Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign
by ashardoffreedom
Summary: Three years after Twilight Princess, evil has returned to the land and Hyrule, corrupt and unprotected, needs a hero to fight the powerful enemies of the Ancient Hero of Time. But after the final battle, Link faded away like a shadow . . . not to be seen again for three years . . . until now.
1. Prologue: A Mournful Celebration

**A/N: My name's ashardoffreedom, though I usually go by Shard of Freedom, and this is my new story. This is just a prologue, and the chapters get longer as you go. Because I'm so hyped up about this new fanficition, I'm not going to say much in author's notes, but as always I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its affiliations. This is solely for my (and hopefully your) entertainment. Also, I update my fanfictions weekly. So, every Tuesday, I will add another chapter onto this. I have a policy of never discontinuing a story, so you don't have to worry about me ending this fic. :) **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign _

_Prologue: A Mournful Celebration _

She was gone. And she wasn't coming back.

Link stood in the Mirror Chamber, staring at the Mirror of Twilight. Midna was gone. She had left, graceful and tall, no longer the sharp-tongued imp that he had known, to return to the life that she had once had in the halls of the Twilight Palace. She would be a princess worth her kingdom. The goddesses may have dubbed Link with the Triforce of Courage, but Midna was a hero as well.

And now she was gone. Link wasn't going to pretend that he hadn't seen it coming. They had spent all that time adventuring, fighting, killing, nearly dying—in order for her to return her kingdom to its former glory. She had manipulated him and others, ran from her birthright and fought tooth-and-nail side by side with a wolf-boy who was the incarnation of a former Hero. If she had turned her back on her kingdom after Zant and Ganondorf were both defeated . . . Link might have slapped her. She hadn't worked so hard to give up what she had fought for. She wasn't that person. Link wouldn't have let her let everything go to stay in the world of Light. She deserved so much more than that.

Few people knew about Midna's time in the world of Light. Princess Zelda was one of them. But despite what Zelda and the others thought, Link and Midna's relationship never went beyond anything but friends. They were partners, comrades, fellow fighters, and working for the same cause from different angles. She was his advice giver, the one that tugged his ears when he was a wolf and patted his head when he did something right. She was the little imp that hid in his shadow and made snide remarks. He was her Hero, the savior who was needed to return her world to the way it was. He was the courageous young kid that she had picked up to fight her battles for her. They were partners. They would never ruin that relationship by trying to be more than that. Besides, Link was fairly certain that Midna was a lot older than him.

But that didn't mean that Link didn't want to cry when she left.

When she had risked her life for him in the Lanaryu Spring, he had realized how important Midna was to him. She was his partner, and despite her initial motives and coldness, she had helped him so much more than she had hurt him. She didn't deserve to suffer the pain that she had. Link had decided to do whatever it took to save her and her people.

As Link looked at the empty half-circle that was the holder of the Mirror of Twilight, he realized that there was no way back. Her last action in the world of Light was to shatter the Mirror of Twilight, to insure that there would always be the uncorrupted balance of Light and Twilight. No more invasions like Zant's. She had put aside the only connection that they had to each other in order to protect them. With a single tear, she had protected the generations to come. Link was certain that he would never see Midna again. And despite that depressing thought, he was pleased that things had turned out the way that they were. Midna had a life and a throne waiting for her in the Twilight. There was nothing left for her in the Light. She was only a shadow here after all.

Link sighed. He played with the bracers on his wrists, caked in mud, dust, and blood from the battle that ensued on hours ago. Despite the warping to the Mirror Chamber, Link had wiped off most of the gore from his green tunic in Ordon Spring. He had felt that it would be inappropriate to be covered in grime at this occasion. But still, there were flecks of Ganondorf's blood on his cheek and his own cuts on his arms. His side was bandaged from a particularly close call. He would have to chug some red potion when he got back to Epona.

The princess of Hyrule stood next to him, motionless and pristine, staring at the large stone protruding from the sand, as if willing the portal to open up again once more. As far as Link knew, Zelda and Midna had never been close, but the Hylian princess had been willing to give her life for Midna's, so there was that certain bound between them.

Compared to Link's grimy battle-worn appearance, Zelda was perfect. Her brown hair was tied with ribbons and jewels, her dress was clean and beautiful, her ceremonial sword polished and her skin unmarred. Link looked like a field hand compared to her. Which, he supposed, he was.

Link sighed once more and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Link looked over his green-clad shoulder to see Zelda calling out for him. He raised an eyebrow in question.

"Why are you leaving?" The princess looked so worried and distraught that Link had to wonder what he had done that was so terrible.

Link looked back to the pillar of stone in the center of the circular ruins. "There's no need to stay. She's not coming back anytime soon. I'm no longer needed here." His words were short and soft, carrying the weight of his will.

Zelda regained her poise, her voice returning to its normal calm and collected tone. "But you're still needed in Hyrule. We have to rebuild! My father was killed in the raid of the Twilight Beasts. It's up to me to return Hyrule to its former glory, and I need a man like you to help me."

"Princess—"

"I'm not being foolish! You're a hero, Link, and the soldiers need a skilled weapons master to lead them. You know more of this world than most. You have connections with all the races that inhabit our lands. You are a man of great knowledge and skill. Hyrule became a weak country under my father's rule. I need you to help me to return it to what it once was. I need you at my side."

Link scratched the back of his head. "Princess, this is all very flattering—"

Zelda sighed and tilted her head. "I know that this is all very sudden and uncalled for, but I would like you to return to Hyrule Castle with me. Not many know of your deeds, and they have a right to know their savior. You could teach the soldiers to know true courage. You could show the world what a real hero is."

Link paused, an unreadable look on his face. "What are you asking me to do, Princess?"

"Come back to Hyrule Castle with me. I will place you at the head of my army, and you will be given the title of lord. You will be known throughout the kingdom and a hero to all. I only ask of you to help me protect Hyrule together with me, at my side." Zelda's voice was high and mighty, the voice that she had probably used in the throne room, talking to her subjects. She waited patiently, confidently, for his answer.

Link shuffled uncomfortably. "Listen, Princess, that's all nice and good, but I'm not one for the limelight. You have other nobles, other strong fighters. I'm a farm boy from the Ordon Province. I know nothing of how to act like a noble. I do not wish to be pushed into a world of politics." Zelda looked like she would refute his statement, but Link silenced her with a look and continued speaking. "It may be selfish of me to refuse, but it was also selfish of you to ask. This world does not need a hero anymore. It will only give them a false sense of security. It would be better if the Hero of Twilight faded, along with the deeds that went along with him. I will be only a reminder of bad times, and a bloody fight that only I know the full story of. That is not a hero you show to the public. I am a vague figure that not many will accept. I must refuse your offer."

Zelda's face was unreadable, but there was hurt and betrayal in her eyes. "You would abandon Hyrule in its time of need!"

Link started walking away again, crushing the sand beneath his coarse brown boots. When Zelda spoke however, Link glanced over his shoulder. His eyes were feral and blue.

"Hyrule doesn't need me right now. Hyrule needs you. And don't misunderstand me, Princess. When darkness rises again, as it always will, I will be there to fight it." He gave a small sad smile as he looked back to the empty Mirror holder. "I promise you that."

Link turned away, kicking up sand with his boots, not glancing back to the now broken connection he had with the second world he had saved. Zelda called out after him, trying to catch him without tripping over her own dress, but Link was too quick for her and eventually faded away on the horizon.

That was the last time the world would hear of him for three years.


	2. Ch 1: After The End

**A/N: WOW. This chapter goes out to **_Armageddon Coconut _**who left me the longest review I've ever gotten in my fanfiction carreer. Or course, I've only been on for a couple months or so, but it was still nice. Anyway, I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its affiliations. Also, despite the characters mentioned on the summary being Zelda and Link, this isn't really a romance fic, just like the games aren't. Usually, when I find a fic that's romance in Twilight Princess, it's either forced, inconsistent or out of character. Props go the author of **_The Hero of Wolves_** because she can do it successfully. This is more action/adventure, which is more my style. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter One: After the End _

A group of soldiers walked into Ordon Village with a purpose. There were only three of them, but they carried an aura of control. The one in the middle was taller and wider than the other two, a mass of muscle that could be seen beneath his armor. While the others held the spears that were typical of the soldiers of Hyrule, their leader had a sword strapped on his back. He was the only one that didn't have a helmet, his cropped black hair open to the evening sunlight. While his body was strong, his black eyes were caring.

This was Captain Falnoff of Princess Zelda's personal guard.

Unlike the rest of the soldiers in Hyrule, the captain was a powerful man, strong in wit and sword. He was a low noble in the hierarchy in Hyrule, but he had risen to his rank on his own merits. While not one of the best swordsmen out there, he could keep his cool on the battlefield, and was one of the last soldiers to go down on the battlefield against the Twilight Beasts. He was completely loyal to the princess of Hyrule, which was the reason that he had been assigned to her guard. Although young, having barely scraped the age of twenty-five, he would not waver in the face of danger for his country and his ruler.

He was a rare man in these times.

Despite Princess Zelda's best efforts to return Hyrule to the way that it once was, she was not getting very far. Due to an old law, she could not have full control of the monarchy until she married and currently, she was fighting with the Council of Elders, who seemed to want nothing to get done. Princess Zelda wanted to return to the way things were before her father's reign, when a title was earned from your skills, not your wealth. The nobles, fearing for their positions, were fighting against Zelda's new regime with all of the power they had. The country was in political gridlock.

While most of the physical damage from the Twilight Beasts had been fixed, the country remained as incompetent and weak as it was before. If the country was put under siege again, it would be no better protected than they had been. Meanwhile, the people remained in a state of ignorance, believing to be safe. With the Bulbins' retreat from the populated areas of Hyrule, people fell into a false state of security, pleased with the life that they now led. Their ignorance would be the death of Hyrule.

Captain Falnoff had heard all of this from a quite reliable source—Princess Zelda, who tended to mumble quite loudly when she was upset. The captain liked to think that he and the princess were friends, since she seemed to enjoy his company, and he did as well. Sometimes, when she was going over scrolls in the throne room, she would ask his opinion and he would smile and tell her that he knew nothing of politics. She would return with a small grin, laced with unknown sadness, and the captain couldn't help but feel that someone so young shouldn't look so upset.

"Sir?"

The captain looked back to one of the soldiers assigned with him to the mission. It took Falnoff a moment, but he then remembered that the boy's name was Ilku.

"Yes?"

"This is where we were assigned?" Ilku's voice held a note of disbelief.

Captain Falnoff looked around. The village wasn't much, he had to admit, compared to the prosperity of Castle Town, but it had a certain sense of peace and tranquility that was odd for city folk. Children played in the pumpkin patches and around the trees while a woman sat on a picnic table sewing the last stitches on a doll's face. A young boy sat on top of a tall pillar of rock jutting out for the small stream that flowed through the village, playing a soft song on hawk grass and watching the birds of prey circling around him. A cat sat on one of the small dock located around the stream and stared down into the water, watching the greengills far below hungrily. Across a bridge, a tall man was pulling an escaped goat back up the way to where the ranch was. It was a quaint village, but a peaceful one.

"Yes, this is where we will be stationed for the next few months. Princess Zelda wishes to induct this province into the protection of Hyrule, and we are here to make sure that that happens."

Princess Zelda knew that Falnoff was a loyal and good man, which was why he was chosen to go the Ordon Province. He would make sure things were decent in the province, and he wouldn't take bribes from the nobles who wanted to keep the province out of Hylian government.

Ilku nodded, but didn't look convinced that this was worth his time.

"Soldiers!"

Falnoff turned to see a large man with Ordon clothes and an odd shaped mustache approach them. He had squinty eyes and a bald head, but he was smiling. Behind him was a young girl of about nineteen years of age. Her sandy hair was cropped short and she had pretty green eyes. She was wearing loose, simple clothes. She had a pouch around her waist as well . . . and was that a dagger? She would have been beautiful, if it wasn't for the scar on her face. It went from just below her right eye, across her cheek, to end somewhere beneath the shoulder of her clothes. It was healed, but it was a marred purplish white, as if it had festered for a moment before healing. It was straight and even, which had Falnoff thinking that it had come from a blade, rather than a rabid animal. Falnoff's heart went out to the girl. She could have been beautiful enough to be a lady in Princess Zelda's court, but the scar ruined her pretty appearance. Despite the staring by the soldiers, the woman smiled.

The large man clapped Falnoff on the back, and he tried not the stumble from the man's brute strength. He smiled wide as he spoke.

"Welcome to the village of Ordon, soldiers! We got your messenger, and we're all quite pleased that you're here! It's been a long-time dream of our village to one day be a part of Hyrule! My name's Bo, and I'm the mayor of this here village! Thanks for coming!"

Bo clapped Falnoff on the back again. Bo's voice was loud and cheerful, and it made every sentence that the man spoke into an exclamation. Falnoff couldn't help but smile. This was a good man, he could just tell. One that you wanted to watch your back.

"Father . . ." the scarred girl said lightly. "Don't hurt the man."

Bo moved away from the soldiers, a tad embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry. Anyway, fellows, this is my daughter, Ilia." The girl waved. "Now, don't get any ideas, boys. She's taken. Anyway, Ilia, would you like to show the soldiers around town? I've got to talk to Fado about the goats. He keeps letting them get out!"

Ilia smiled and nodded. It would have been pretty, but smiling made the scar twist unnaturally. Still, she tilted her head as if she was unaware and waved a hand to her father, who was heading back up to hill to the ranch.

"Follow me. I'll show you around."

The soldiers fell in step behind her dutifully. Captain Falnoff tipped his head to her. "Thank you very much, ma'am."

The girl laughed. "Ilia. Please just call me Ilia. No one's called me ma'am since the Gorons."

Gorons? They were a rock-like race that found the home above Kakariko Village, Falnoff knew. He had never met them other than the few that spent time in Castle Town, selling their goods in the summer months. Maybe there was more to the girl that than scar and being the mayor's daughter.

"I am Captain Falnoff, and these are my soldiers."

As they walked behind her, Ilia pointed things out.

"That's the general store, run by Miss Sera. She sells just above everything you'd need there. Now, there're all the pumpkin patches. Don't squash them, or my father will give you a piece of his mind. Those pumpkins held feed us through the winter. Over there is Rusl and Uli's house. Rusl is the local swordsmith. So if you ever need your weapons sharpened or some new ones, he's the man to go to. They've got two children, but only one is still in the house. Uli's pregnant with a third. I swear, they're gonna have more children than the entire village put together."

Ilia paused as she continued walking. The girl's voice was sweet and melodic, and she had a calming air about her. She seemed comfortable around the soldiers, despite their weapons and armor. Her face was full of emotion when she talked. No matter the scar, this girl was a pure soul.

"Now, next to that picnic table is Jaggle and Pergie's house. Pergie is the woman who's sitting there." Ilia raised a hand in greeting to the woman, who smiled and called back to her.

"Got yourself some new men, Ilia?"

Ilia laughed. "You wish! Fado would have my hide!"

Pergie laughed, and waved once more to Ilia as she continued walking. "Jaggle and Pergie have two kids. Talo's that kid up on the rock. He's got a way with animals. He wanted to be a swordsman for a while, but then he realized that he's better with hawks and horses than he'll ever be with a sword. He's good at using a bow though. He got some lessons for a while, but there's no archers left in the village, so now he practices by himself. They have another child named Malo."

Falnoff spoke up. "Malo, as in Malo Mart?"

Ilia chuckled. "Yeah. He's quite the little prodigy. Owns most of the weapons stores in Hyrule, that one. He comes back to the village every once and a while. Either way, it's hard to believe that the kid is nine. I know that his parents are pretty proud of him."

"Yeah, I can see why."

"And you already have seen my father's house. I would show you the ranch, but my father's probably yelling at Fado for letting another goat get out. No matter how much I insist, Fado will never let me work on the ranch with him. Probably worried that I'll get hurt. But it's sweet of him." Ilia smiled again, a far off look on her face. Then she continued walking.

Ilia stopped them in front of a house buried into a hill, with a tree on top of it. "Now, this is my house. Watch out for the Hylian hornets' nest up there though. Talo knocks it down with a hawk every few months or so. But they always seem to come back. Anyway, I'd invite you inside, but I should probably show you to Ordon Spring first."

Waving a hand for them to follow, she led them out of the village. They stopped when they saw a figure moving gracefully through sword stances, attacking a scarecrow. Falnoff had to admire the boy's technique. It was probably better than his own. For a moment, he wondered if it was Rusl, the sword smith, but then he realized that the figure was too young to have fathered children.

Ilia cupped a hand around her mouth and shouted. "I knew you'd be here!"

The figure stopped and sheathed his sword across his back with a flourish, behind a wooden shield engraved with goat horns. Now that he had stopped moving, Flanoff saw that the boy was a lot younger than he had first thought. The boy couldn't be any older than sixteen, but he had a strong presence. He was wearing a tight black shirt that accented his muscles and loose Ordon pants. He had a single pouch on his waist. His hair was blond and cropped short. His face had lost all traces of baby fat and had become sharp and narrow.

Ilia approached the figure with a smile and a wave. "I wasn't sure if you had gotten back from the Forest Temple or not. I have to wonder why you keep going back there."

The boy shrugged. "Ilia . . ." He paused before sharply speaking again. "Anyway, I lost the scarf that you gave me. Sorry."

Ilia waved it away with a hand. "It's fine. But you shouldn't keep going back to the temple. It's dangerous there."

"I keep telling you, Ilia," the boy said. His voice was high and soft. "There are only so many monsters in Ordon Province, and I have to test my skills somehow. He once told me that the Forest Temple is the weakest of all the temples. There's no way that I could die in the weakest temple."

Ilia's voice darkened with concern. "You're not him. You don't have to push yourself."

The boy sighed. "I know, Ilia. I know."

Ilia turned back to the soldiers. "Oh, excuse my manners. Colin, this is Captain Falnoff and his soldiers. This is Colin, Rusl and Uli's oldest son. He's the resident swordsman of the village."

"Second resident swordsman," Colin insisted, his voice hard.

Ilia sighed. "Colin, we've talked about this."

Colin crossed his arms fiercely. "And I still don't believe your side of the story. He's still alive, Ilia, and you know it."

Ilia closed her eyes in pain, while the captain and his soldier stood on, feeling like they were intruding on something private. "Even if he was still alive, Colin, he's not here anymore. He left a long time ago."

Colin huffed and turned away, climbing up the small ladder that led to a house on top of a rock. He slammed the door as he entered into his home.

Ilia sighed and raised a hand to her face. "I'm sorry about that. We have that conversation a lot. He just refuses to let go of the past."

Captain Falnoff placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry; it's fine. Now, you said something about Ordon Spring?"

Ilia smiled once more and led them down to short path that led to wooden gate decorated with flower vines. Ilia pulled out a key from her pocket and opened the gate.

Inside, there was a pool of water and flowing waterfalls surrounded by rock face. Weeping willows draped their flower-laden branches towards the water. An amount of whistle grass surrounded the pond. Flying around in the shallow water, there were many small pink floating balls of light. The fairies and danced and played across the water. Occasionally, Falnoff swore that he saw a golden shimmer of light in the center of the spring out of the corner of his eye. However, whenever he tried to look straight at it, it seemed to disappear.

"This is Ordon Spring. It has astounding healing properties because of the fairies that remain here. No one knows why they stay, when fairies are usually free spirits. No one knows how they came either. According to Colin, there are fairies in Faron Spring as well. When you think about it, you have to wonder how it happened." Ilia touched the water gently, twirling her fingers and making ripples.

"Are you alright, Ilia?" The captain said with care.

Ilia gave him a bright smile. "Oh, I'm fine. This spring just carries a lot of memories. It carries a lot of memories for all of Ordon Province. Some of them good, some of them bad." Ilia pointed up to the sky, where a blocky black and blue portal was located. "That's one of the remnants from the Twilight War. I've heard that they're all over Hyrule. You can only see them when night falls, but everyone knows that they're there."

The soldiers looked up at the sky. Captain Falnoff nodded. "I've seen the one in Castle Town. People were afraid of it for the first few months, but after Princess Zelda told the populace that it was harmless and simple a remnant from the war, people stopped paying it any mind."

Captain Falnoff paused before speaking again. "It's been three years since the Twilight War. Was Ordon Province affected?"

Ilia sighed. "Yeah. All of the children were stolen, myself included. Colin got the worst of it. He was taken by King Bulbin himself and held as bait. After he was rescued, he swore to get stronger. He's changed over the years. He's no longer the shy little kid that he used to be."

"Who was he rescued by?" Ilku asked curiously.

Ilia stood up from her crouched position and shook the water off her hands. "That's a story for a different time. Now, I was wondering if you gentlemen had tents for the night?"

"Yes, we do," Captain Falnoff said. "There's no reason for you to go out of your way for us."

Ilia began walking out of the spring, the others following her. She locked the gate as she spoke. "Oh, there's no trouble. If you're going to stay here for months, protecting us, you deserve a little bit of hospitality. We'll find a place for you by tomorrow."

There was a click as the gate was locked. "And just tell me anytime that you wish to use the spring. It used to always be open, but wild animals kept getting in and threatening the safety of the villagers. Some of the animals in these provinces shouldn't be close to humans. Eventually, we decided that it would be better to lock it like the others are."

Captain Falnoff nodded.

As they walked past Colin's house once more, Colin was sitting on the top of the ladder with his chin his hands. As they passed, Colin cleared his throat. Ilia looked up to him.

"I'm sorry, Ilia," he said with his face turned away from them.

Ilia gave a sad smile. "Don't worry, Colin. Everything will work out."

Colin nodded and dropped down next to them agilely, instead of climbing down the ladder. "Hey, Ilia, have you called Epona lately?"

Ilia shook her head. "No, not recently. She's probably out in Hylian Field somewhere. She's a good horse, she'll be fine."

"She's still looking for her master, isn't she?"

Ilia gave Colin a look. "Colin, we just talked about this. Let's let it drop for now, okay? We'll talk about this again later."

Colin sighed and nodded, rubbing a hand through his hair abashedly.

Ilia led them back into the village and Colin fell in step behind her with the soldiers. Captain Falnoff decided to strike up a conversation with the boy.

"Your name is Colin, isn't it?"

The boy nodded. Falnoff couldn't help but notice that his hand never strayed far from his sword and shield. He remembered what Ilia had said about him being stolen by King Bulbin to be used as bait three years ago. The boy would have been what, eleven, twelve? Far too young to be used as a hostage.

"Yeah, I'm Colin. You guys are soldiers, right? You're here to help Ordon Province until it becomes a part of Hyrule, aren't you?"

Captain Falnoff nodded. "Yes. We're here to help you. But from the sword work that I saw earlier, you don't need my help. You're quite skilled with the sword. Did your father teach you?"

"Somewhat. I learned from the basics from him, that's true. But I got my skill from someone else. And I'm nowhere near his level yet."

"I'll have to meet him someday."

"If you did, it would be a miracle. He's been gone for a long time."

Captain Falnoff nodded. This was probably the man that Ilia and Colin were fighting over. The one that Ilia thought was dead.

"Well, anyway, you're quite good with the sword. Maybe we could have a spar sometime."

Colin nodded, but there was still the shadow of sadness on face. "That would be nice. I only fight my father and monsters these days. There aren't many swordsmen around here, and all the high-level monsters with actual intelligence—like the Bulbins—are no longer in Ordon or Faron Province."

"Yeah, the Bulbins have been a big topic in Castle Town these days. Although they left after the Twilight War, they're coming back. Whatever reason they had for leaving before, it's no longer there now, because they're back in action. Princess Zelda doesn't want all-out war with the Bulbins, but the Council of Elders is fighting for a battle."

Colin nodded, then shivered. "I could deal without the Bulbins in our lives, thank you very much."

Captain Falnoff nodded and watched as Ilia greeted a tall, plain man with a smile and kiss on his cheek. The man kissed her back, and murmured something in her ear that made Ilia laugh. Captain Falnoff was glad that there was a man who loved Ilia in spite of the scar. It must have been rough for Ilia to go through life with a visible marring. Scars were a sign of strength for men. Scars were a weakness for women.

Ilia turned back to soldiers. "Men, this is Fado, my husband. Fado, these are the soldiers of Hyrule who will be protecting us for the next few months."

Fado raised a hand in greeting. "It's nice to meet you gents. Keep us safe, okay? I'm not entirely sure if I trust this brat to do it." Fado stabbed a finger towards Colin, who stuck his tongue out at him.

"I've done just fine, haven't I? You don't see the Keese and Skulltulas that you see in Faron Province here, do you?"

Fado rolled his eyes. "Maybe some real soldiers will beat some sense into you, kid. You keep going to the Forest Temple, looking for adventure. Wait until you're older. Adventure isn't all it's cracked up to be."

Colin turned his head away from Ilia and Fado. "I know the price of adventure, Fado. I know it a lot more than you."

Ilia touched Colin's shoulder. "I know, Colin." An silence stretched for moment while Colin looked at the ground with sadness. Ilia cleared her throat and looked to the boy. "Why don't you stay with Rusl and Uli tonight? Kana has been asking about you."

Colin looked up and nodded, seeming grateful for an excuse to leave the conversation of adventure and his exploits behind. "I think that it would be a good idea." Colin glanced at the soldiers once more a smiled. "Don't forget about that spar, Captain. I'll see you guys tomorrow, Ilia, Fado."

Colin raised a hand in farewell and walked up the path towards his parent's house. Uli was at the door and embraced her oldest son in a bone-breaking hug, despite her pregnant stomach. A little girl came out of the house screaming "Coli! Coli's home!" Colin reached down a hand and pulled the girl onto his shoulders, running around while she spread her arms like a bird.

Ilia smiled softly. "Colin's been through a lot. He was kidnapped twice. It left him with a lot of scars, some less obviously than mine." Ilia touched a finger to her own scar, which the soldiers had been trying not to stare at as she spoke. "I think I'll make you all some dinner while you set up camp. Is pumpkin soup okay for you?"

"Of course, Ilia," Captain Falnoff said dutifully.

She walked into her house, leaving the men outside with Fado, who stared after his wife adorningly.

"Well, gents, do you have any need for me to help you out? I'd rather not leave you out in the cold to do this all by yourself. That wouldn't be very kind of me, would it?" Fado laughed, and helped the soldiers unpack their bags.

Fado and the other soldiers exchanged stories as they set up the tents that would be their homes for a few days. Soon, Ilia came out of the house midway through the job, holding out four bowls of hot pumpkin soup. The men ate it as if they were starved, and gave out plenty of compliments once they were done. Ilia graciously gave them seconds.

After the work was done, Fado offered to show the soldiers the ranch, which the others accepted. Before Captain Falnoff could follow them, Ilia called out for him.

"Captain, would you like to join me for tea?"

Captain Falnoff nodded after a moment of hesitation. "Of course."

The captain followed Ilia inside her house.

The house was small, but carefully decorated. Intricate weaving, most likely made by Ilia dotted the wall. There was a single bed shoved into a corner, large and covered with many goat skin blankets. A table was in the center of kitchen, surrounded by three wooden chairs. There was a dresser next to bed. It had extra blankets layered on top of it for cold winter nights. The dirt floor was carpeted with warm woven rugs.

A brick stove was buried in the wall of the house. The captain could smell bread baking in the oven and the remnants of the pumpkin soup on the stove. A kettle was heating, preparing for their tea. Next to the stove, there was a door in the floor, most likely leading down to the cellar where extra food and other supplies would be kept. There was a small side table near the bed that had four books on it. There were lanterns hung on the walls and a single window let the dying sunlight into the house.

Ilia walked to the stove and prepared two mugs of tea. "Is jasmine tea fine for you?"

"Yes, it's fine."

Ilia put a certain amount of tea leaves into the mugs of hot water and stirred them with a spoon before giving one of them to the captain and wrapping her own in her hands.

"Take a seat, Captain. I feel that we have much to discuss."

Ilia sat down across from the captain and set the mug down on the round table while Falnoff took a draught of his tea.

"I suppose that you have questions. Despite what people think, this quiet province has been through the same dark times that the other provinces that Hyrule has. Perhaps more so, considering that we are so small."

Ilia took another small sip from her tea. "Most of these events circled around a young man who is no longer with us.

"I suppose that I should tell you the story of Link."


	3. Ch 2: Over A Cup Of Jasmine Tea

**A/N: Announcement! I am currently looking for a beta who would be able to check my story for minor spelling errors and grammatical mishaps. I don't really need help with the plot, just the technical errors. However, you would have to abide by my weekly schedule, which means that chapters must be beta'd quick enough for me to post them on Tuesday each week. If you are interested, PM me, and I'll go through the responses. Anyway, disclaimer: I do not own anything Legend of Zelda.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Two: Over a Cup of Jasmine Tea_

"I grew up with Link," Ilia started carefully. "He was the parentless child that was raised in our village. He was taken in by Rusl and Uli. No one has any idea who his parents are or where they came from. Generally it wasn't mentioned, and Link grew up with Rusl as his father figure and Uli as his mother. He and Colin were like brothers. I suppose that's why Colin has such a problem with letting go of the past. Since we were the same age, we played together when we were children. As you have already seen, we're not a very large village. Everyone knows everyone in this village.

"When he was young, it was seen that Link had a particular skill with horses. His own horse, Epona, found him when he was nine. She just came up to him one day out of the woods. Later, we would discover that she had escaped from the stables in Castle Town. But Link and Epona were too close by then and the horse wouldn't go back. A lot of gold was exchanged to make sure that the horse could stay with Link. Epona and Link had a special bond, and it has only grown over the years."

"So she's the horse that's running wild in the Hylian fields?" Captain Falnoff asked.

Ilia nodded and wrapped her dainty hands around the mug. "She's still looking for him. Anyway, once Link had gotten Epona, he decided to work on the ranch as his job in the village. Everyone in this village has a job, spare the children. We get our share of gold from outside sources, to be sure, for our cheese and pumpkins, but everything is shared in this tiny village. We all help each other out. There's only a dozen or two of us here, but we make sure that everyone can live well. So Link paid his share by working on the ranch. He was the best goat wrangler we've ever had. Fado tries, I know, but Link was always the person who kept the goats in line. Generally, nowadays, if three days go by without a goat getting loose from the pen, it's a good week. My father always catches them and throws them back in the pen, but they never got loose when Link worked the farm.

"You know that house that Colin lives in?" The captain nodded. "That used to be Link's house. He lived there when he was old enough to move out of Rusl and Uli's home. I guess that in mimicking Link, Colin moved out as well. Colin mostly lives there now so that the house doesn't fall into a state of disrepair. He takes care of it and makes sure that it doesn't fall apart. Part of him hopes that Link will come back to live in the house once again."

Ilia paused and sighed before clutching the mug tighter. Her eyes were trained on the brow liquid as she spoke, unfocused. "Of course, I'm trying to convince him that Link's not going to come back. He's been gone for three years, and we're running out of hope." Ilia sighed once more and drank her tea while Captain Falnoff listened with rapt interest.

"Continuing on with the story, Link worked as a ranch hand. Back in those days, I was obsessed with horses. So when I saw that Link had one, I instantly spent all my time with the two of them. Occasionally, I would steal Epona from her spot next to Link's house and wash her in the Ordon Spring. I always made sure that Epona was well-cared for, and lectured Link when she wasn't. I knew that Link knew how to care for Epona. It was jealously on my part. I wanted a horse so badly, and Link is the one who gets one? I just thought that it wasn't fair. Of course, I was a little girl back then and didn't know any better. I also was starting to realize that I had a crush on Link as more than just a friend. It was girlish infatuation, but it was strong."

Ilia smiled. "Of course, I don't feel that way anymore. I happily in love with Fado now and I realize that I might have always been in love with him from the start. But when I was a girl, I was convinced that I was head-over-heels for Link and nothing could ever change that." Ilia chuckled as she brought the cup to her lips. "Oh, how foolish I was as a girl! But, who could blame a girl in love?"

Captain Falnoff smiled. "They are frightening creatures when crossed."

Ilia laughed. "That they are! Our lives passed peacefully for a long time. Then, when Link turned seventeen, things changed. He was a man now. He had been taking sword lessons from Rusl for a few years before that. He was a hero to the local children, who would follow him around like puppies. He was the apple of every mother's eye, whether or not he was their son. My own father loved him like the son that he had never known. If there was one person that was beloved by the village, it was Link.

"Part of it was his personality. If there was ever an honest person, that person would be Link. He was gentle and brave, always there to help you out if you needed something. He played with Beth when Sera was too busy in the general store, going through inventory. Once, when Pergie was having a rough time of things with the newborn Malo, he picked all of her pumpkins for free so that she could sleep in. He helped Uli through both of her pregnancies—even during the morning sickness stages. He was the person who called for Pergie when Uli went into labor. Link would take Fado's shift on the farm when Fado was sick. He was a godsend to the people in Ordon. How could you not admire a person like that?"

To Captain Falnoff, he was a man who seemed almost too good to be true. Of course, Falnoff had never lived anywhere other than the corrupt Castle Town, where people like Ilia and this Link just didn't exist.

"When Link was seventeen, my father asked him to deliver a sword to the royal family. It was supposed to be our gift to Hyrule, a gift to make them consider allowing our province to be under Hyrule's protection. Link, being the kind and courageous soul that he was, accepted to go through the dangerous Hylian Fields to get to Castle Town. He was one kid alone on a horse—who knows what could have happened? I was upset. I didn't want Link to go. What if he got hurt? I sulked in my room for a while, but I couldn't do anything to stop him. Both Link and my father had made up their minds.

"The day before Link was supposed to go Hyrule Castle, things got out of hand in the village. We had recently been plagued with a bad bunch of monkeys, who enjoyed stealing from the villagers. Mostly, they stole trivial things, but it was bad enough that people started complaining. So, that day, a bunch of the children decided to venture into Faron Woods to go teach those monkeys a lesson. They had been taught from the day that they were born that the woods were dangerous and full on monsters, but who cares about that when an adventure awaits?" Ilia said with a small smile, staring down at the soft brown liquid of her tea.

"Wait," Captain Falnoff said. "A bunch of unarmed children went into Faron Woods alone? Were they mad? They could have been killed!"

"That was the sentiment of most of the parents when they figured out what their children had done. But that was after they had been returned safely. Link had been with the children just before they had ventured into the woods, and chased after them, trying to save them. Malo and Beth were fine, having fallen behind before even getting to the woods, but Talo had forged ahead. Link saved him and the monkey that he had been chasing from the Bulbins and returned them to village safely. That was the first sign that he was more than the farm boy we had thought he was."

Ilia chuckled. "You could imagine the shock we had all gotten when Link returned with the children. One boy, armed with only a wooden sword, had gone all the way into the depths of Faron Woods, fought all the monsters within, and returned without a scratch with the missing children. It was inconceivable!

"At that point in time, I hadn't heard the story of Link's daring exploits in Faron Woods. All I knew was that Epona was once again hurt from jumping fences, and I was less than happy about it. So before Link or my father could say a single word, I had yelled at them both and taken Epona to go get healed in Ordon Spring. I was mad that Epona was hurt, but I was also mad that Link had spent the entire day with the children and had spared not a single thought for me.

"Later, while I was washing Epona and bandaging her in the spring, Colin came and found me. He told of what had happened in the woods, and that Link needed his horse back to go to the royal palace. I felt like such a fool. I feel even more like a fool now, when I think back on that day. Everything ended in that spring, and everything started at the same time. Link came to find me and his horse. I told him that I was sorry, and that I would be waiting for him when he returned.

"Everything happened so quickly then. There was the sound of a horn. Then a giant wild boar crashed through the gates of Ordon Spring. I was immediately knocked over the head with a club, and all I can remember is the sickening red pupils of Bulbin as it dragged me away. Then, I was unconscious."

Ilia picked up her cup and drank from it steadily. She seemed to have no issues telling her tale. She had probably told it many times before. It no longer seemed to affect her. Captain Falnoff was thoroughly engrossed; his cup lay forgotten and a hand was glued to his trimmed beard in thought.

She set the mug down gently and cupped her cheek with her hand, her elbow on the table. "I would hear the aftermath from other people, after everything had ended. Supposedly, Link had followed the Bulbins that took me. Somehow, he had acquired a sword and shield from a beast who had stolen them from the village. He had a new tunic as well, a green one that seemed to come from a different time. While he had chased after me, the other children had been stolen from the village by the same Bulbins that had taken me.

"The children had been taken the Kakariko Village. I had been separated from them and taken to the Hidden Village past the bridge of Eldin. The blow that I had taken to the head caused me to have severe memory loss. I couldn't remember anything, not even my own name. I was imprisoned with a woman named Impaz, who was kind to me in my time there. She was kept there as well, imprisoned by the Bulbins. But she told me that she couldn't leave the village. She was waiting, and that it wouldn't be right of her to leave the village behind. But there was no need for me to stay there as well. So, Impaz helped me escape from the Bulbins."

"That must have been hard for you," Captain Falnoff sympathized.

"It was hard for all of us. I'm sure that things weren't easy on your end either." Ilia said with kindness in her voice. Ilia continued with her tale after taking another sip of her tea.

"Around the same time as this, Link had found the children in Kakariko Village. Colin describes it to me as incredible. According to him, one minute, the outside was dark and gloomy and filled with monsters. The next second, it was bright, sunny and clear, no monsters in sight, with Link standing in the middle of Eldin Spring. No one knows what Link did to make the monsters disappear. Everyone just says that they knew that Link was the one who did it. A few days after Link had come to Kakariko Province, King Bulbin and his servants arrived. The king stole Colin from the streets of Kakariko and used him as bait to lure Link to fight him. Do you know what King Bulbin did with Colin? Tied him to the top of his banner and let Link watch on as Colin was shaken while unconscious." Ilia spat bitterly.

"That's horrible!" Captain Falnoff exclaimed. "Colin would have just been a child then."

"But Link saved him. He defeated King Bulbin personally and returned Colin to Kakariko Village. After that incident, Link decided that it was too dangerous to allow to children to travel back to Ordon Province. Someone could have died if he had taken them back. Later, he would save the Goron chief Darbus from the shadows and returned Goron Mines to its former glory—workable and monster-free. He earned the respect of all the Gorons there, which was why they insisted on calling him "Brother" and welcoming him into their circle. He's considered to have a rank close to an elder in the Gorons. No one knows what exactly went down in the mines, and if they did, no one's talking. Darbus can't remember a thing, and the elders have always been tight-lipped. No one really knows.

"Meanwhile, I had discovered a young Zora child in the streets of Castle Town, and was determined to take care of him. I had never been one to turn away from someone or something that was hurt, and I wasn't about to start now. So I carried him on my back and tried to find us a place to stay. Everyone turned us away, until I found a woman named Telma. She runs a bar in Castle Town to this day, perhaps you've heard of her?"

Captain Falnoff nodded. After all, what soldier hadn't heard of Telma's Bar?

"She took me and the Zora child in. I stayed there for a few days, trying to find some help for the child. The local doctor told me that he couldn't do anything to save him. Telma remembered a shaman in Kakariko village who could save the boy. I immediately jumped at the chance to heal him. But we needed a guide. None of the soldiers were brave enough to travel the dangerous lands filled with monsters, but one green-clad swordsman was."

"Link."

Ilia smiled sadly. "Yep. Link was there. And I had memory loss, so I couldn't even remember the face of my closest friend. I can't imagine how much it must have hurt him for me to look him straight in the eye and ask what his name was. But he kept his promise. He was our guide and protector as we travelled through the plains. And he didn't even expect anything in return. He did it because I was his friend, even though I couldn't remember him at all. He fought King Bulbin again on the Great Bridge of Hylia and won. He brought us safely to Kakariko Village, where the young Prince Ralis—that was the Zora boy that I had saved—was healed. Telma stayed there with me to return my memory to me."

Ilia paused.

"What's wrong?" Captain Falnoff asked.

"Nothing. This is around the time when I lose track of Link's tale. No one knows what actually happened. Shad claims that he became an expert on the Oocca, a sky race. Old man Auru said that he traversed the desert. Ashei says that he went head-to-head with a Yeti. Rusl says that he saw Link go into deepest part of Faron Woods, where no one has ever explored. In between his adventures, he returned my memory to me and apparently enabled Impaz to leave the hidden village, but before I could even properly thank him, he was off again, doing Goddesses-knows what.

"When Link returned my memory to me, I realized that I would never be more than a friend to him, and I finally understood that I never wanted to be any more than that. The Link that stood in front of me was different than the one that I had grown up with in the trees. And I wasn't in love with this new, changed Link. But he was still my brother in all but name, my best friend. It was good to see him again with my own eyes, eyes that recognized him." Ilia breathed in the soft scent of her tea.

"From that point on, Link's tale is shrouded in mystery. I have no idea what happened after he returned my memory. People have given me different tales that they had, but none of them make any amount of sense. They are jumbled pieces of different puzzles. They don't fit in evenly. After Link left me once my memory was returned, the next time I would hear of him is when he walked out of the liberated Hyrule Castle, covered in sweat, grime and blood. No one understood what had happened. And Link wasn't talking. He could have been a Hero, he could have been a simple bystander to the bloodshed. Either way, he helped this village more than anyone will know."

"Why have I never heard any of this?" Captain Falnoff asked. "If Link was a Hero in the Twilight War, why were the people never told? Why did no one know what he had done?"

"That's the problem, Captain," Ilia said. "No one knows. No one but Link knows his full story, and he isn't talking. How can we call Link a hero for something that he might have done? He could have been the most powerful Hero that this world has ever known. Or he could have simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. No matter what had happened, Link had been changed by the War. He may have not been a soldier, but I'm pretty certain that he had been through a lot."

Ilia sighed. "I personally believe that Link's the hero that I want him to be. I think that he fought for Hyrule and won. I think that he waged a war against an evil that no one saw and destroyed it. But it doesn't matter either way. Link came back war-torn and broken. He was different. He was powerful, strong, silent. He was quiet. He talked less and more maturely. He still played with the village children. He still smiled, even if it was smaller and harder to come by. He wasn't a completely different person, just changed. He wasn't the seventeen-year-old boy that he had been when he had left. He was years older now.

"Now, Link was still the humble and brave soul that he had been when he had started. But you can never go to war and come back the same. Especially if it's a one-against-many war. And if the rumors are true, that's what Link fought. But I was younger then, and I refused to believe that the Link that I had once known was gone and dead.

"Link came back to Ordon Province covered in blood and cuts, with a solemn look on his face. He came back a changed man."

Ilia paused once more and the firelight reflected against her scar twistedly.

"And when Link came back, things went sour."


	4. Ch 3: The Legacy Of Link

**A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! Here's chapter three. Disclaimer: I do not own anything Legend of Zelda. Most times I wish I did, but you can't have everything in life, now can you? **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Three: The Legacy of Link_

"Like I had said, Link was a changed man when he came back to Ordon Province. But that didn't mean that he wasn't the same in some ways. He played with the children. He taught Colin how to fight and Talo how to use a bow. He herded the goats in his free time. He had the softest look on his face when he played with the newborn Kana and teased Colin about a messed up form. He would smile and laugh and joke around. That's why I had such a problem believing his warnings."

Ilia touched a hand to the side of her face, the one that didn't have the scar, as she took a sip of her tea. Captain Falnoff's mug lay forgotten, as he was too wrapped up in the tale to even care about the drink.

"You see, when Link came back to Ordon, he had told the entire village that he had been through a lot—he was unsurprising unspecific—and that there were certain rules that we all needed to follow so that nothing happened. They were pretty basic—don't wake him up while he was sleeping, don't sneak up on him, announce your presence if you walked into his house, don't touch him if he was unprepared.

"Link told us that he was different than he was before, and that we should be careful around him. And we were. We trusted Link, and if he said that we should follow those rules, then we did. But as time went by and he returned more and more to the person that he had been before he left the village, they slowly slipped our minds. He returned slowly to the farm boy that he once was. Because he was becoming the man that I had once known, I disregarded his warnings.

"Things were simple in the village before then. He taught Colin better swordsmanship than Rusl ever could have, he showed Talo how to use a bow and make the hawks come. He helped the village plant the pumpkins for the new harvest. He taught Fado how to ride Epona and herd goats. But certain things were different. He would disappear for days on end. No one knew where he went. He would occasionally stare mournfully at his shadow. He was battle-ready at the slightest unanticipated noise. They were small changes, and barely noticeable as the weeks went on.

"Link stayed for a total of two months in Ordon Province after his adventure. He affected our lives so much during those two months. He taught Colin how to be strong. He taught Talo how to play to his strengths. When he was here, life returned to normal. But then things went bad.

"It was early in the morning. I wanted to ask Link if I could borrow Epona for the day. I used to just take the horse, but I figured that that I would be immature, and I didn't want to look like a child. Now, I wish that I had just taken Epona. But I climbed the ladder to his house and forgot all the rules that Link had told us. I went into his house and found Link sleeping. Natural instinct: wake him up. So I did."

Ilia sighed. "I was so foolish. Link had never explained why he had those rules. Well, now we know. They weren't to protect him. They were to protect us."

"No." Captian Falnoff's eye widened as they glued onto the scar on Ilia's face.

"Yes. I woke Link up. I should have paid attention. But how was I supposed to know that he slept with a dagger in his hand? How was I supposed to know that Link would attack me when I woke him up? How was I supposed to know? And how was Link supposed to know that I didn't know?"

Ilia fingers traced her scar as she spoke. "Link gave me this, but I don't blame him for it. No one in the village blames him for the scar. As soon as Link came to his senses and saw what he had done, he carried me to the Ordon Spring and saved my life. He even made sure that the scar wasn't too bad. I'm not sure how he did it, considering that not even the spring's healing powers could have healed me to that extent. I guess that I'll just add that to the list of things that no one knows about Link.

"If anyone was to blame for what happened that day, it was me. Link told us that we shouldn't go near him while he was sleeping. He never elaborated, but that was because he didn't want to scare us. No one blamed him for what happened—no one but himself. He disappeared the next day, feeling that he couldn't control his actions. He stayed for a total of two months in Ordon Village. He's been gone three years. No one's seen him or heard from him. Link has friends from all over who are looking for him. By this point, we're convinced that he's no longer alive."

Ilia sat down her empty mug after draining the last of her tea. "Colin blames me for what happened to Link. I can tell. I can see it in his eyes. Colin hero-worshipped Link, especially after Link started teaching him the way of the sword. Link left because of my carelessness. I can't blame Colin for thinking that it was my fault. After all, in a way, it was."

For a moment, the two of them sat there in silence, Ilia staring at her empty mug, Falnoff thinking that he should comfort the girl but unable to find the words. Then Ilia got up abruptly and took her glass to a bucket that was full of soapy water and other glass dishes. She glanced over at the captain.

"Are you finished with your tea, Captain?"

Falnoff looked down at his nearly-full cup of lukewarm jasmine tea. The captain laughed good-naturedly. "Well, I guess that I was so intrigued that I forgot why I had entered the home in the first place."

Ilia smiled. "Well, then, I'm glad to offer you some Ordon hospitality. I . . . I figured that it would be wise to tell you the story of Link, since he's so prominent in this village. There's not one person in this village who hasn't been touched in every way by Link. If you're going to live here for the next few months with us, you should know about the biggest part of our lives."

Captain Falnoff nodded. "I'm glad that you told me. I'll keep it in confidence."

Ilia started shuffling the dishes in the bucket. "That would be wise. Saying Link's name in this village only leads to tears and anger here." Ilia paused. "I usually don't let myself hope about such things, but Link's made so much of a mess of this village that, if he ever did come back, we'd all punch him." Ilia gave a short chuckle at her joke, but the laughter faded quickly.

Captain Falnoff gave the girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for the tea, Ilia. I'll remember what you told me."

Ilia hummed noncommittally as she pulled out a lantern to set on the table. Captain Falnoff couldn't help but notice how terribly sad she looked as she lit the candle with a broken match.

* * *

Tomorrow rose quickly over Ordon Province. Colin pretended that he wasn't bothered about how cheerful things were, because he wasn't feeling cheerful at all. Link was still gone. Link still wasn't there in his house like he should have been, yawning and getting ready to herd the goats or give Colin another sword lesson.

The worst part was knowing that every single day meant one more day that Colin lost hope that Link was still alive. It meant one more day that Ilia was more right. It meant that it was one more day that Link wasn't there.

Ilia was right when she told him to stay with his family. He had moved into Link's house a few months after he had left, as soon as the cobwebs had started forming. His excuse was that he wanted to branch out as his own man, but everyone knew that he went to make sure that the house was still clean and solid for Link if he ever returned. The three year mark had passed a few weeks ago. How much longer was he going to wait?

Colin woke up before the rest of his family. It wasn't odd. When he had been a child, he had always been the morning bird. He would go outside and whittle away on his fishing rod in the cool morning breeze until his parents woke up. Then he would show it to his father. Rusl would sit down next to him and tell him everything that was wrong with the rod, but then he would show him how to fix it and make a better one next time. Well, Rusl wasn't going to fix things this time, and there would be no next time. There was only one Link.

Colin gripped the hilt of the Ordon Sword like it was second nature to him. He drew it out of its sheath. He had to admire his father's craftsmanship. While Colin had surpassed his father in swordplay around a year ago, he had never had his father's skill with metalwork. Link had given him the sword before he had started their training, saying that a real man needed a real sword. It was Colin's most prized possession.

Colin twirled the sword back into its sheath and sighed. He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to stay in Ordon. He would stay with his family for a few more nights before he ventured out once more. Kana would cry and give him the pouty lip, which made him want to stay for as long as the little girl wanted him to. His little sister had that much sway over him. But Colin felt like he had to keep going. Colin had a feeling that if he kept dungeon hopping, he would find Link in one of them, acting as if time had never passed. Although Link had mentioned more dungeons, Colin only knew of two of them—the Forest Temple and Goron Mines.

Goron Mines was just beyond the village of Kakariko—which was still rebuilding from the Twilight War, when they had taken heavy losses. Most of the population of the town had been lost. Colin had witnessed the death of some of the villagers himself. He would never un-see the vision of the inky black creatures attacking poor innocents in the street. He wouldn't go to the Goron Mines. His wooden shield would burn like paper in there, and he wasn't equipped to deal with the fire creatures within. For now, Colin had to limit his adventuring to the Forest Temple.

For a moment, Colin had wondered why Link had known so much about the dungeons. Then he had placed it out of mind as Link had gone on to show him how to use the shield as more than just a defense. But now that he had more than enough time to ponder, he realized that there were so many things that he had wished he had asked Link, now that he didn't have chance anymore.

"How much longer are you going to make me wait, Link?" Colin murmured to the open air. He ran his hand through his sandy hair. There was no use. Link wasn't going to answer him.

Colin sighed and stared out to the village, which was foggy in the morning sun.

He saw Ilia come out of her house and pulled out a laundry line. Colin watched as she began to place Fado's shirts on the wire, to be ready by the time that he woke up. She was careful not to wake any of the soldiers, who were snoring loudly in their tents.

Ilia didn't know that he had been sitting outside the door while she had explained Link's story to the captain. She didn't know that Colin had heard every single word that she had said.

Something that Ilia had said last night bothered him. Did Colin actually blame Ilia for Link's disappearance? He certainly didn't like her opinion that Link was dead. He especially didn't like the thought that he was getting closer and closer each passing day to believing her. He hated that she could be right.

Somehow, it just didn't seem right to blame Ilia for Link's disappearance. Colin didn't think that he would be able to look at Ilia's face if he blamed her. That would be like blaming Ilia for her scar. Link had made his own decision. Colin had a feeling that neither Ilia nor Link were at fault. Ilia had been hurt, Link had disappeared. Ilia still had the scar, Link was still gone. Neither of them was to blame. The situation had caused the outcomes.

Colin sighed. No matter how he rationalized it, he still had a deep ache in his chest when he thought that Link was gone. Link was his role-model, his goal. It was too hard to think about it with issues of blame. It didn't matter who was at fault. All that mattered was that Link was gone and still hadn't returned.

When he thought about it, he realized that the Ilia issue probably hadn't been Link's only incentive for leaving. There were probably other factors, other issues. Just trying to puzzle them out gave Colin a headache. There was simply too little that was known about Link. Link was a man of mystery.

_He is,_ Colin thought. _He's still alive. No need for past tense. _

"Hey, kid."

Colin looked up to see Rusl standing over him with a smile on his face. Colin nodded and gave a small grin to his father.

"Hey, Dad. Why are you up so early?"

Rusl shrugged. "Just had my mind on things. What about you? What are you so worried about?"

Colin sighed. "Just the usual stuff."

"So, it's Link, isn't it?" Colin nodded. "He's been gone for a long time, son. I'm not sure if he'll return to Ordon Village. He's always been a bit of a free spirit that one. Went all over Hyrule. According Ashei, he even went to Snowpeak Mountain, past the point where humans should be able to survive."

Colin smiled. "Do you think that he really did? Ilia says that no one knows of Link's adventures other than Link himself."

Rusl raised a hand to his goatee. "Well, I suppose that's true as well. No one knows what Link did all those times that he disappeared. But we can assume that he did something great. But we'll probably never understand, even if he did tell us. I mean, Fyer, the man who runs the cannon shop on Lake Hylia says that Link rigged up a cannon so powerful that it can shoot people to the sky. Now, there's no way that that could be true now, could it? And some of the Goron say that Link can beat all of the elders—including Darbus—in wrestling. That one I know isn't true. Link's good at wrestling, but not that good. When it comes to Link, fantasy mixes in with the fact. If you ever go to Castle Town, just mention Link's name in Telma's Bar. Everyone will put in their two cents, whether they knew him or not. There's no way to be certain what happened to him. If he ever returns, I suppose you'll have to ask him that yourself. Or maybe, you'll leave Ordon Village behind and find him."

Colin pulled a single knee close to his chest. "Do you really think that he's still alive? I mean, even my hope's running thin. It's been three years. Nearly everyone is out looking for him. I heard that even Princess Zelda tried to find him."

Rusl ruffled with Colin's hair while Colin winced at the childish action. "Are you kidding? I know Link. He's faced nearly everything that Hyrule has to offer and come out without a scratch. There's no way that he would fall to some odd-ball creature in the backwoods of Hyrule. He can handle anything that this world can throw at him. He's out there, Colin. He's just not here."

Colin sighed. "If he is out there, I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind. Why didn't he ever come back?"

"Guilt for one. Perhaps he's dealing with more problems than just his scars from the Twilight War. Perhaps somewhere else needs him more than Ordon Village. There are a hundred different reasons why he hasn't returned. Don't lose hope, Colin. Try to give him a little more time, but don't wait up for him. He wouldn't want you to waste your life waiting for him. You know that."

Colin nodded after a moment of hesitation and yawned. He stretched his arms. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Dad."

Rusl looked over at him kindly, and the silence stretched for a moment before Rusl spoke again. "Hey, Colin, what happened to that scarf that you're so fond of?"

Colin's hand went to his throat, which was usually covered in a bright red scarf that Ilia had made him two years ago, but was now bare. Colin smiled wirily. "Yeah. I lost in the Forest Temple the last time. I would go back in and find it, but I think that the monsters have gotten it by now."

Rusl clapped his son on the back. "Well, that's too bad, son. Anyway, get some more sleep. I'm sure that Kana's kept the bed warm for you."

Colin rolled his blue eyes. "More like she's rolled over onto my side and left me no room." Colin yawned again. "But some more sleep might be a good thing. It's been a long couple of days."

"Get some more sleep. A few more hours won't kill you."

Colin nodded and headed back to the door when he sensed something. Colin turned around immediately and grabbed the Ordon Sword, preparing to draw it out of its sheath. Rusl turned to his son.

"What's wrong?"

Colin touched one finger to his lips and stalked the perimeter of the house, which didn't yield anything specific. Colin relaxed a moment of tense waiting. Rusl came up to his son.

"What was that all about, Colin?"

The boy shook his head, as if ridding himself of the eerie feeling that he had gotten. "It's nothing. I could have sworn that I had sensed something though. I guess that all the dungeon-crawling has fried my nerves. Link said that it could do it to you."

Rusl nodded, but didn't seem to be entirely convinced. "Are you sure that it's nothing?"

"Probably. When I'm in the Forest Temple, surrounded by nothing but monsters, I get to the point where, if it moves, I'll attack it. I guess that I've still in the monster frame of mind." Colin dropped his hand from the Ordon Sword, once he was certain that he was safe.

"I guess that's why I don't dungeon-crawl," Rusl said, laughing.

"Yeah," Colin said teasingly, "and the fact that you're so old."

"This old man can kick your butt any time of the day, you whipper-snapper!" Rusl caught Colin around the waist, and he was still light enough to be thrown over his father's shoulder. Or maybe Rusl was just that strong. But Colin was pretty slight for a fifteen-year old.

"Ah! Dad, let me down! Come on, it's not funny! It's way too early for you to be doing this! Oh, come on, Dad! Please! Okay, okay, I give! You're not old! Now let me down! I'm serious, I promise!"

Rusl laughed as he sat down his son once more. "That'll teach you!"

Colin yawned once more and Rusl pushed him into the house, saying that Colin needed rest. While Colin opened the door that led inside, Rusl picked up Uli's water can and headed for the pumpkin fields. Colin yawned once more before something red caught his vision. Colin turned to catch sight of a cloth stuck on the bushes near his house.

With a raised eyebrow and curiosity in his eyes, Colin reached over and grabbed it.

It was the scarf that he had lost in Forest Temple.

Colin looked around for the person that could have returned it to him. He was certain that he had dropped it in the temple. None of the villagers went into the temple, in fear of getting hurt. Not even Rusl, with Uli to think about, went there. Colin was the only person who went there now.

Then how did the scarf come back to him?

Colin decided not to give the matter any more thought as he headed back to the house, but he was unaware of the feral eyes that watched him in the trees.


	5. Ch 4: Zelda's Rule

**A/N: To all the Americans out there, Happy Election Day! Obama vs. Romney, the epic showdown begins! However, this fanfiction is set in Hyrule, and thus there is a need for the Disclaimer: I do not own anything Legend of Zelda.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Four: Zelda's Rule_

"ORDER!"

Zelda banged her heavy scepter against the marble floor of the throne room. The Council of Elders, who were gathered around the room in groups, glanced up to Princess Zelda and continued mumbling quietly to each other despite the petitioners falling silent. Zelda resisted the urge to clench her teeth. For a moment, her eyes strayed to the throne behind her, tall and magnificent and inlayed with gold, with the huge carved stone Triforce above its head.

She wished that she could sit in the throne. People would maybe listen to her then. Maybe the Council wouldn't think of her as an insignificant little princess that they could order around.

Instead she had to deal with a grand ornate chair on the tier below the throne and slightly to the left of it. All because she didn't have a man at her side to call King. It was the same reason that she couldn't get rid of the title Princess and replace it with Queen. She was forced to be a Princess and bow to the will of the Council of Elders, which was made up of corrupt nobles and helpless old men who refused to bow to change—and to her.

Zelda wanted to run a hand through her brown hair and tear out all the jewels and ribbons that were her crown. After three years of getting nothing done, Zelda wanted to hand the crown to Shen, the head of the Council of Elders, and tell him to do her job and see how he liked it. But Zelda cared too much for Hyrule to let it fall to the hands of the old, wrinkled men who thought that they knew best. If they had their way, the country would remain as weak and frail as ever. They would fall victim to another raid like the one of the Shadow Beasts.

Zelda sighed and calmed herself.

"I, Princess Zelda of Hyrule, have now convened this session. Petitioners, you may now come forth with your complaints or concerns after talking to one of my personal guard."

In the old days, the Council of Elders would screen the petitioners to make sure that the complaints were worth the rulers' time, but Zelda abolished that when she realized that, if the Council had its way, she would never get to see the real issues that plagued her people. Sometimes, she felt like the elders saw her as the same little girl who used to clutch her father's robes than the strong, powerful, magical twenty-two-year-old princess that she was. She had the Triforce of Wisdom. She could handle a few petitioners by herself.

The first petitioner, a man with a graying beard and sad eyes, came forward. He bowed before the princess and handed her a tightly wound scroll. Zelda nodded and took it gracefully in her hands, not moving from her chair.

She read over the petition.

"Your name is Kalin, is it not?"

The man nodded, not saying a word.

"And you are petitioning for soldier protection as you return your son's body to Kakariko to be buried in their graveyard, since your wife is also buried there?"

The man nodded once more, waiting a moment before speaking. His voice was dry from disuse. "I was the first of my family to leave Kakariko before the Twilight War. My son died in an accident three days ago. I would like to return him to the home where the rest of my family lays. Perhaps the Goddesses will let him find peace there."

Zelda smiled sadly. "I am touched by your tale, Kalin. But I am a reasonable woman. The soldiers of Hyrule can do little for you these days than you cannot do for yourself. I cannot grant you protection that you do not need."

Kalin looked ready to speak, but Zelda put up a hand to stop him.

"I will, however, not allow you to travel these lands alone. I suggest you find a woman named Ashei. She will help you in your quest for little to no price. She can help you take your son back to Kakariko Village. She should be at Telma's bar at this time of day. Give her my name. She owes me a few favors, and she'll be happy to help you on the road to Kakariko."

The man was shocked, but smiled at her words, his eyes glassy. "Thank you, Princess, thank you."

"I wish you good luck on your journey." Zelda hit the golden scepter against the floor once more, signaling the next petitioner to take his place in front of her.

This was a younger man, around Zelda's own age. He had a coarse commoner's outfit and short brown hair. He was well-built and overly tan for a Hylian citizen. He bowed low before the princess and handed over his own scroll of petition.

Zelda unrolled it, and while she read, the man spoke.

"My name is Han, and my land was taken by my neighbor the other day. I need to begin the spring planting soon, and need the cattle to get off my land."

"Have you thought of fences?"

Han laughed. "Fences won't keep out what is already there. I would like to get them off my land and stop eating my fields."

Zelda rerolled the petition with her long thin fingers. She handed it to the guard who stood at her right side. "I can give you a ruling from the castle for your neighbor to get the cattle off of your land, but I'm not sure how much it would do. If the situation persists, I can send a soldier or two to ensure that the deed is done. But, again, I suggest fences. The crown can only do so much concerning civil disputes. No matter what is decided, there always is a jilted party."

Han nodded. He got up off of his knees as Zelda spoke again.

"Come to the castle in two nights, and I will have a castle ruling for you. I'm sorry that I can't do anything more."

"That's more than enough, Princess. My neighbor is not a brave man; he'll leave at the wiff of soldiers coming his way." Han tipped his hat to the princess as he moved away from the throne room.

Zelda pounded the scepter against the floor and a small woman sauntered forward, complaining of her husband having an affair and her needing to be compensated for it.

It was going to be a long day.

Zelda couldn't say that she hated Saturdays. Those were the days when the petitioners came forward with their complaints and handled the issues that plagued the people. The princess enjoyed learning what issues were happening to the people. Most of the problems concerned some connection with the nobles and Zelda did her best to get out a far ruling that wouldn't put the Council of Elders on her bad side. Hyrule couldn't handle another three years of political gridlock. Zelda had already heard unsettling news about a possible war with their neighboring countries. . .

But she had no time to dwell on such things.

As princess, Zelda was obligated to sit through all of the petitioners that came to the palace, whether trivial or life-changing. It was a long time of settling civil disputes, official business, ambassadors from other lands who spoke in rapid fire languages that Zelda could only partially translate by herself. And once it was over, she had to convene with the council and deal with the issues that affected them all.

That was the worst part of her day.

Zelda was no longer a child, being twenty-two, so she couldn't have a fit about how upsetting the council was, but she wanted to. Oh, she wanted to. They never did what was best for Hyrule. They always did what was best for themselves, who weren't even ten percent of the population. And they definitely weren't the important part of the population. They did not plant crops or make swords. They were nobles, and if those old geezers had raised a sword since they were her age, Zelda would be surprised.

But she was the princess. She took a deep breath and gave a small smile, reminding both the nobles and herself that she was the ruler of Hyrule and deserved to be treated as one. As the worn and rugged petitioners made their way out of the throne room, servants brought eight chairs, as ornate as her own, placed in a curved half circle in front of her. As the citizens of her once great nation filed out of the throne room, the nobles took their places in front of her.

At the very center, in a chair more bejeweled than her own, sat Shen, the leader of the council and the highest ranking noble.

He thought that he was king already.

Shen was younger than the other men on the council. He was only in his mid-fourties, rising to power due to his father dying unexpectedly from old age and illness. If it had been an accident, Zelda would eat her crown. There were no such accidents when it came to politics. He was a well-dressed man, and seemed to spend more time on his appearance than keeping his estate, leaving such affairs to Hyn, his right hand man. Zelda had only met Hyn once, when she had visited the estate when her father was still alive. Hyn was an older, over-worked man who had bags under his eyes and not enough meat on his bones. Zelda had always felt bad for the poor servant.

More than anything else, Shen wanted power. He wanted the power to rule over others, the power to take what he felt was rightfully his—the throne. As far as he was concerned, Zelda was simply a girl too small for her crown who needed a man at her side to handle the real affairs while she played with her jewels and the other ladies of the court. And if he had her way, that man would be him.

Zelda tried not to scowl. As everyday passed, the princess was more and more pressed to find a husband. Zelda knew better than most that the throne could not stay empty for long, and eventually, she would need to find a man to take it for herself. Shen had already submitted his suit, despite the fact that he was over twenty years older than her. Every meeting was another time for the other nobles to tell her how good a couple they would make. And Zelda had to keep her poise through it all, reminding herself that it would only be a matter of time before she had that law abolished and she could choose who she wanted. Whoever she wanted.

Zelda hit the scepter on the marbled floor again suddenly, causing many of the nobles to start in their chairs from the resounding boom. She iced them all with a cold glare. She was not in a good mood.

"I, Princess Zelda, hereby convene the weekly meeting between myself and the Council of Elders. As always, decisions discussed are only advice, and are not true laws until decreed by a ruler of Hyrule." She paused, hissing breath out between her teeth slowly. "However, because there is not a true ruler of Hyrule yet, all decisions made must be in accordance with both me and the council." The final words were sticky in her throat. She didn't want them to come out.

She banged the scepter once more before giving it to a servant to hold for the time being. She placed on hand on the arm of her chair while the other one was adorned by her elbow while her fingers twirled with the ribbons in her hair.

"So, gentlemen, are we going to get something done today?"

One of the elders to her right, named Julls, raised his eyebrow and his voice. "Are you implying that we get little done in the council meeting in previous times?"

Zelda face turned neutral, haunted by only a small smile. "My dear friend, I was merely suggesting that prevalent issues be discussed today. The extent of what was discussed and decided in previous meeting is up to interpretation. Now, continuing on, there are many things to discuss. One of the most problematic would be the decision whether or not to accept the Ordon Province into Hyrule's borders. I have spoken to the mayor many times, and the crops and lifestock that they produce would be a great boon to our society."

A white-capped man spoke up to her center-left, and Zelda's eyes immediately jolted to him. "My princess, is that wise? I don't see how inviting a new province into our peace can supply anything more than trouble and questionable loyalty. We have no need to add to our troubles."

"I feel that we have every need, Elder Karlo," Zelda said. "Their province is one that focuses on agriculture, and if you haven't noticed, farmland is scarce in Hyrule, especially with skilled workers to maintain it. Unless you would like to pick up a plow and scythe to cut your wheat yourself or tell the general public to go and work in the dangerous Hylian Fields, I think that we have no choice but to adopt their land into our folds. It would be a simple excuse with little to no gold being spent. All they want is our protection while they settle into the Hylian lifestyle. What do we have to lose?"

Shen spoke up, crossing his hands and clearing his throat as if the council had all the time to wait for him. As the rest of the elders paused, enraptured, Zelda calmed her breathing.

"If we were to accept this province—if, my dear Zelda, if—would they need representation on this council? It is Hylian law that all provinces must have a member on the council. Is there anyone in the village who would be . . . ahem . . . capable of handling the position?"

"Why, of course, my dear Shen," Zelda said in a sickly sweet voice that threatened to catch in her throat. "Their mayor, Bo, is a capable leader and has presided over Ordon for many years. He would be an excellent addition to our council. I'm sure that you would greet him . . . ahem . . . graciously." At Zelda's soft, fake cough, Shen's young face tightened unnaturally, giving him a stanch, dead look.

Seeing the darkened clouds over the heads of the council head and the princess, Nestor, a kind man who was an advisor to Princess Zelda, spoke. "Men, I have a need to discuss the food reserves and recent changes to the treasury that require immediate attention . . ."

As Nestor took the focus away from herself and Shen, Zelda silently thanked the old man. He had been like a father to her even before her own father had passed. He was a sweet man, and Zelda was thankful that she had at least one friend on a council full of cowards and sycophants. Suddenly, Zelda wondered which ones were which. Most were both.

Zelda listened with half an ear, but even in her dazed state, she caught the look that Shen shot her from his chair. She was about to glare back with steel eyes when a voice inside her head, that little thing called a conscious, said, _Princesses don't glare. And sit straight. _

Her conscious sounded a lot like her sour old nursemaid when she was growing up. She supposed that it probably would have sounded like her mother as well, but that was one thing that she had never known. Her mother had died in childbirth, bringing Zelda into the world but at the same time leaving it.

Zelda spent most of the meeting trying to look interesting while her fingers itched to tap impatiently on the arms of her chair and giving out small and possibly rude comments to the council sitting on the tier below her. Her heart wasn't really it. Occasionally she would catch a glance from Shen and raise an eyebrow, challenging him nonverbally. He never did anything, but she could tell that he wanted to speak out. It gave her slight satisfaction to know that he couldn't without his shoulders losing his head. Eventually, Nestor, giving the princess a cursory glance, stated that the day was growing thin and that they should retire to their own homes. Zelda, perking up at the idea of leaving her uncomfortable chair, immediately agreed. It had been a long day, and she needed to get some sleep before reality gripped her once again the next morning.

As the council filed out of the throne room, Nestor stayed behind and ran his hand through his thinning white hair in exasperation.

"Zely, you could at least pretend to not want to bite the heads off of each of the council members."

The princess smiled at her own childhood nickname, the one that she had been given long ago and tossed away only recently. Nestor himself had given her that one, and it was the only one that had stuck.

Zelda got up from her chair and cracked her back, looking at the throne longingly. "I know, Nestor, but they won't even let me control my own kingdom. And they think that I'm naïve enough to hand the crown over to Shen while I find myself a husband—please! I may be royal and female, but I definitely am not foolish. Things will change, Nestor. They have to."

"A tall order, Zely," her old advisor said cautiously. "You have enemies inside and out. It won't be long before the people start complaining about the declining food storage and the oppressing taxes that their personal lords give them. For the moment, the crown is safe because of the belief that Hyrule is safe. I fear to see what will happen when that belief is shattered."

Zelda sighed and placed a hand to her temple. "I don't know what to do. I can't enforce any acts without the approval of the council. I need someone else on my side. Someone who will make them listen. I was going to promote Captain Falnoff to the general's position just to get General Jellas off my back. I need a friend on the council other than you, Nestor. This peace won't last forever, and we are as weak as we've always been."

Nestor smiled, but there was a reprimanding light in his gray eyes. "I know, Zely, I know. But you could at least try to act civil with them once and a while. After all, you are the princess."

"A princess who should be queen," Zelda said sourly. She paused. "I sound like a spoiled child giving a temper tantrum, don't I?"

"A little, my dear, just a little."

Zelda sighed, and Nestor placed a hand on her thin shoulder in comfort. "I know how hard these meetings are on you, my little Zely. When you're up there, looking so poised when I know that you're practically seething on the inside makes me wonder how we have such a strong princess. Just—"

"Try not to annoy the council any more than you have to," Zelda finished for him. "I know, Nestor. Believe me or not, but this isn't the first time that we've had this conversation."

Nestor laughed loudly and it echoed against the carved walls of the throne room. "Oh, I do believe you, my dear. If only you would learn something from all my speeches."

"You're a good man, Nestor," Zelda said softly. "You always take care of me, and for that I am forever grateful."

Before Nestor could reply, a woman cleared her throat. Zelda turned to the throne, unsurprised, while Nestor practically jumped out of his skin. Hiding in the shadows behind the throne, there was a tall, well-built woman with black cropped hair and a mask covering the lower part of her face. Tattooed on her face was a single black teardrop under her left eye. Other than the knives around her waist and thigh, and a single red symbol tied onto her arm, she was wearing all black. The red symbol had an eye with a single tear drop cascading down from the center. The woman raised a hand in greeting.

"Yo. Thought you might've missed me."

Zelda walked to the woman quickly, with a grin on her face. "Kukiel! I didn't know that you had returned! You're not hurt, are you?"

The woman shook her head. "A Bulbin raid defeating me? You've got to be kidding me, Princess. I could handle that with a hand tied behind my back." Even beneath her mask, Zelda could tell that Kukiel was smiling.

Kukiel was about three years older than Princess Zelda and was denoted the task of being her bodyguard. The woman was a member of the illusive Sheikah clan, the underground retainers of the royal family and fierce protectors of the realm. For the most part, they did as they pleased. But they had sworn allegiance to the royal family and would go whatever it took to protect them. Kukiel was a manifestation of that.

The Sheikah were a hidden part of Hylian society. Few people, even among the council members and high ranking officials, even knew that they lived. Kukiel said that their existence depended on no one knowing that they did exist. The clan had faced extinction before, and saved their clan by the skin of their teeth. They felt no need to repeat the past, and so, kept their whereabouts hidden.

Kukiel gave Zelda a careful glance. "We need to speak, Princess. Now." She sent a look to Nestor.

The old man bowed quickly and left, murmuring something about scrolls that he had to read over. As soon as he was gone, Kukiel turned back to the princess.

Kukiel pulled a scroll out of her loose sleeves. Her tanned fingers were careful as they handed the parchment over. "This is from the sages. They said you that it was urgent to get it to you. I'm not sure what it contains, Princess, but they urged me to be quick. I abandoned my previous espionage mission to bring it to you in all haste."

Zelda took the scroll from her friend carefully. From the sages? She hadn't spoken to them in a long time—not since the end of the Twilight War, when she and Link had said goodbye to Midna at the now-broken Mirror of Twilight.

Zelda broke the seal and scanned the page, her expression becoming darker and darker as she read on. When she reached the signature at the bottom of the page, she crumpled the letter in her hand in rage. In a flurry, she brought a pit torch to the edge of the crumpled ball and watched as it burned. Her skin was tight across her clenched hands.

Kukiel looked to Zelda carefully. "Princess? Is everything alright?"

Zelda turned to her bodyguard, horror and desperation in her eyes. "Find Link. I don't care how you do it. Just find him."


	6. Ch 5: Of Swordplay And Harsh Words

**A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own anything LoZ. Thanks to everyone who has given this story continued support. This is by far the longest chapter that I have written, but it's one of my favorite chapters.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Five: Of Swordplay and Harsh Words_

A blade slashed through the air, only to be stopped by the cold clash of metal. A ring resonated through the air. Colin jumped back, readying his stance once again. On the other side, Captain Falnoff lunged forward, only to be blocked by Colin's shield. Colin rotated his wooden shield and shoved the blade off its face while he made a clever stab to the captain's knee. Falnoff sidestepped faster than the blade could touch him.

Colin moved back and rammed his shield into the captain's chest. Falnoff stumbled backwards but regained his footing quickly. Colin's blond hair fell into his eyes and he shook his head to remove it from his sight. He was wearing his typical black shirt and loose pants, which was close to the only outfit that he owned. Colin had gotten a lecture about forsaking Ordon garb by his parents and Bo, but he ignored them.

If Link could do it, so could he.

Colin stabbed at Falnoff again, and with a clever move, knocked the captain off his feet with a kick to his feet. As Falnoff fell back, Colin placed his foot on his right wrist and pressed the tip of the Ordon Sword against Falnoff's throat. For a moment, Falnoff breathed heavy, but then Colin smiled and moved his sword away, reaching a hand down to help him out. Falnoff accepted, and Colin pulled the captain to his feet.

"What's the score now?" Colin said teasingly. "Thirteen to two, right?"

Falnoff rolled his eyes. "Yes, yes, kid. I realize you're better than me and your father. Link must have taught you well."

Colin grinned, not extremely phased by the use of Link's name. Falnoff tended to use the name easily in the village. "You kidding? Link didn't even teach me a tenth of what he knows. If you'd seen him fight, then you would understand."

"He must have been a monster."

"A beast," Colin mumbled.

Falnoff turned to look at him while dragging a handkerchief under his bearded chin, wiping away the sweat. "What was that, Colin?"

The boy shook his head free of his far-off look. "It was something that Link once said. To follow a true path of the sword, fight like a beast, to keep the true ones at bay."

"Telma, the woman who keeps the bar in Castle Town, says something like that often," Rusl said from his porch, having watched the fight from a safe distance. "I imagine that that's where Link got it from. He and Telma were pretty close after he helped get Ilia to Kakariko Village. He never joined the resistance though, despite being asked many times. Something about being a part of a group bothered him. He was always more of a solo adventurer."

Colin nodded to his father before wiping his own brow with the back of his hand. It was the middle of the day, and the sun beat down strong in Ordon Village. He stuck his sword in the ground, which was moist from the stream that flowed strong next to him.

His mother, her pregnant stomach preceding her, walked over to Colin, an outstretched handkerchief in her hand. Colin took it graciously.

"Colin, would you mind doing me a favor?" Uli asked in the sweet, high-pitched voice that she always had. Colin nodded, still slightly winded from the long match. "Would you mind taking some of these clothes over to Ilia? Some of her laundry got mixed up with ours."

Colin nodded. "Sure, Mother. I'll be happy to do that." Colin left the Ordon Sword where it was. He picked up the basket of laundry that was beneath the cloths-line behind Rusl's house. Colin looked at the scatted amounts of cloths inside. "Is this what you meant?"

Uli smiled. "Yes, dear. Thank you so much. Tell Ilia that I'm sorry."

"I'm sure that she won't mind, Mother," Colin said. "Ilia's not one to be bothered by trivial things." Colin balanced the basket on his hip and began walking towards Ilia's home. "Now, go rest, Mother. You're not well-enough to be up about."

"Sometimes I think that you're more protective that Rusl." But Uli headed back to her home anyway, lumbering oddly with her pregnant stomach.

Colin knocked on the door with a pale hand. It was mere moments before Ilia opened the door, wiping her hands with a rag.

"Oh, Colin. How can I help you?"

Colin held out the basket to Ilia. "Uli sent me over with these. Apparently some of your laundry got mixed in with mine. She wanted me to give it back to you."

Ilia smiled and the light reflected off of the raw skin of her scar. Colin barely glanced at it. Ilia's scar was a part of life now, but it was also a painful reminder of Link's last action before he left Ordon Village. One of the reasons that he was gone. It was like a stab to Ordon's heart. And to Colin's. His idol was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

Well, there went Colin's good mood.

"Come in. I just put on a pot of orange tea. Your favorite," Ilia tempted, and Colin smiled.

"Sure, my mother can spare me for a bit." Ilia stepped back and allowed Colin inside. He loved Ilia's house. Fado and Ilia had gotten married two years ago, after Link had left, and she had completely redecorated the house. Rather than the barren, practically empty space that it had been before, now the room was filled with blankets and weavings and books. It seemed more like a home now, but Colin never stayed long while they were in the house together. It usually always ended up in an argument over Link. Despite that, Ilia never stopped asking him in for tea, and Colin never stopped accepting. They both wanted to fix things, Colin knew, but some differences just couldn't be crossed.

Colin laid the laundry basket down on the chair and began to fold the clothes, placing them back in the drawers that they belonged to. He had been in that house long enough to know where everything was. As he placed the last white shirt in the top drawer, Ilia approached him with a steaming mug of tea and gestured to the table with a smile on her face.

"So, I hear that you and the captain had another fight," she said, breathing in the steam from her tea. "Did you win?"

Colin tried to drink the tea, only to find out that it was too hot and setting the mug back down. "Did you invite me in just to gossip, Ilia?" He smiled while she laughed. "But yes, I did win."

"Good. Show them that Ordon pride. Do you want some cold goat milk in your tea? It's a little too hot." Already knowing his answer, Ilia got up and moved to get the milk from the cellar, where it chilled with the little ice that they had in the village.

"Yes, thank you," Colin said rhetorically, since Ilia had already descended down the stairs. He swirled his tea with the spoon for a moment, until jolting up when he sensed that Ilia was coming up the stairs. He calmed his breathing, forcibly loosening all of muscles slowly.

"Dad was right," he murmured. "I guess the dungeons really are getting to me." His hand moved the red scarf around his neck, the same strange one that had mysteriously returned to him.

Ilia came trotting back up the stairs, a bottle of Ordon milk in her hands. "Sorry about that. I guess that I had forgotten where I had put all of it."

"Oh, it's fine, Ilia," he said as Ilia poured a decent amount of milk into his cup.

She sat back down in the table and added some to her own glass before laying the heavy bottle back down. "It's hard to believe that Captain Falnoff has been here for nearly two weeks. Time flies so quickly."

"And sometimes it drags forever," Colin said softly.

"That it does. But still, two weeks," Ilia said lightly, but Colin could sense the warning in her tone.

"Yeah." Colin attempted a smile, but he feared that it came as more of a grimace. If it did, Ilia didn't say anything about it, simply taking another sip of her tea.

There was a silence that stretched for an awful amount of time, it seemed to Colin.

"I'm thinking about heading back to the Forest Temple soon."

Ilia's knuckles turned white on the handle of the mug, but she kept her voice even. "How soon?"

He hesitated for a moment. " . . . Tomorrow."

Ilia gulped down the last of her tea before slamming the cup on the table so hard that Colin feared for the china. Her eyes were wide with worry and anger. "Why, Colin? You don't need to go. You've been there before. You could get hurt. You could die!"

Colin attempted to keep his voice steady. "You said it yourself. I've been there before. There's no reason that I shouldn't survive this time."

Ilia's brows curved into a tight V. "I've warned you of the dangers every single time that you go, and there's no reason that you couldn't die this time! You're a child, Colin; don't throw a good life away!"

"I'm fifteen! I'll be sixteen in three months and that's when the village will have to consider me a man!" Colin gave Ilia a glare, but there was no true malice behind it. "And you'll have to as well."

Steam curled up from Colin's cup. Ilia looked to him with kindness and concern in her dark green eyes. "Please, Colin. Don't go. Think about what Kana would say if you didn't come back. Think about how horrible it would be if Rusl and Uli would have to deal with the loss of a child not yet in his prime. I know that I can't stop you once you become a man, but I can try for now. Please, Colin, stay this time at least. This . . . this village doesn't need to lose another one of its swordsman."

Colin's eyes turned hard. "The first swordsman went into the Forest Temple. Why shouldn't the second?"

Ilia touched a hand to the side of her face, dragging her fingers down the molted scar. "Do you want one as well? Do you want to be scarred like me? Do you want to be scarred like Link? Please, Colin, be careful. No one wants to lose you to the monsters in the Temple."

"I can handle myself, Ilia! And everyone knows that the scar wasn't anyone's fault!" Colin shouted.

Ilia shut her eyes tight. "You're not Link, Colin," she murmured. "You don't need to act like him."

Colin's jaw tensed. He got up from the chair. "No, Ilia, I don't need to act like Link. No one needs to. Because he's not dead."

"Accept reality, Colin! He's dead!" Ilia had tears in the corners of her eyes. "You're going to lose your life chasing after a dead man! I want him to be alive as much as you, but I'm not going to be a fool! It's been three years!" Ilia paused. "It's time that you accepted the truth," she said softly.

Colin closed his eyes tightly before placing his cup down slowly. He walked over the door before glancing back and murmuring, "Thanks for the tea." The slam of the door resounded long after he had left.

As Colin walked away, his eyes as cold and hard as his heart in that moment, he tried to pretend like he couldn't hear the sounds of Ilia crying behind him.

* * *

Colin dug his sword out of the ground in which it lay. Twirling it into its sheath, Colin made his way out of the village, his coarse brown boots crushing the rain-damp grass underfoot. Why? Why did Ilia have to seem so right? Why did every word that she spoke sound it held a ring of truth?

He hated that thought. Link wasn't dead. He couldn't be. Link had been the strongest person that Colin had ever known. He had saved Colin from the Bulbins. Link had saved the Gorons from the darkness in their mines. Link could do anything. Link wasn't dead.

As much as he hated to admit it, Colin wouldn't know what to do if Link was dead. Link had been his role model, his goal. Then Link had become his teacher in the art of the sword, his master. How could the strongest person that Colin had known die? What did that make Colin, or anyone else he knew? If Link had died, that would mean that there was no hope for the rest of them. There _was _hope left, Colin knew. There was always hope left. Link was still alive.

"He has to be," Colin murmured, his voice breaking slightly.

As he moved out of the village, a voice called out to Colin. He turned around with a slight snarl on his lips. Captain Falnoff took a step back when he saw the look on Colin's face. Colin's lips were pulled back in a snarl, his eyes hard and dark, his face twisted darkly.

"Woah there," the captain said with his hands up in a gesture of innocence. "I was just wondering where you were going in such a hurry. It doesn't seem like this is a pleasure trip."

Colin lost his glare, but he didn't relax his stance, his muscles still tensed. "I'm going to the Temple. I . . . I just need to leave, okay? I need to disappear from . . . here for a while."

Falnoff nodded, placing a hand to his dark beard. " . . . I guess I'll tell your parents that you'll be gone for a while. Are you sure you have everything?"

Colin closed his eyes. "I'll be fine . . . I just need to leave. I'll see you soon, captain." Without another word, Colin turned on his heel and left, trying to calm his anger and his thoughts. His encounter with the captain hadn't done anything to calm his mood. His footsteps were heavy on the ground and birds flew away as he approached.

Heading through the woods, he breathed in the smell that was Ordon Province. It worked to calm him. The soft scent of the trees, the fragrant flowers and the slow smell of running water. He had grown up here. He knew these woods. They were familiar. They hadn't changed like the village has. These trees hadn't become something else since Link's disappearance. There was no way that Colin could pretend that the village was the same. But here, in between the rocks and the trees and the worn pathways, Colin could pretend like Link still galloped down the dirt trails on Epona and still played with the horse grass that grew on the edge of the spring. It wasn't hard to believe, despite how fanciful that Colin knew it was.

The woods were oddly free of monsters, thanks to Colin's hard work. He tended to roam these trees looking for a fight when he was in a bad mood, which strangely occurred more often than ever these days. Once he had ran out of monsters in the Ordon Province, he headed into Faron, which was full of the creatures. He had become close friends with Coro over the years, who always tended to call him the "Ordonian" and give him free lantern oil, saying that he had promised to come around. Colin had a sinking suspicion that Coro was confusing him with Link.

As he walked past Faron Spring, which sparkled with the pink light of the fairies that floated on top of it, a few Deku Babas sprouted up from the yellow grass and challenged him. He defeated them quickly in the way that Link had taught him.

When he got to the locked gate, Colin just pulled out the key from his belt. Coro had given it to him a couple months back. He said, "Listen, Ordonian, we've been over this. You don't have to ask for the key. Just take it, and be sure that you give those monsters a run for their money. Oh, and come back and buy lantern oil from me or Trill, 'kay?" With a shard click, the gate swung open.

Colin stalked through the Dark Tunnel and came across a Bulbin Warrior. As soon as the monster was alerted to his presence, the Bulbin headed towards him with its club raised and its greenish skin glowing in the light from Colin's lantern wrapped on his belt. Colin whipped out his sword and shield. Giving a quick blow to its legs, Colin slammed his shield into the creature's face. As the Bulbin hit the ground hard, Colin jumped up and slammed the blade of his sword into the gut of the creature.

* * *

"_Listen, Colin," Link said carefully as he sat in front of a makeshift scarecrow outside his house. As he talked, he would pull up grass and pile it together, as if he couldn't stand being idle. Despite always seeming at peace, Link was always doing something, always keeping in motion. Link rarely paused, other than in speech. Link never glanced down at his hands, but he was slowly creating a grass pyramid. His odd green hat was perched on his head and his age-old blue eyes were calm. Usually they were full of thought and dark meaning, but they were clear and easy today, which made Colin feel like Link was in a good mood. "I need to teach you something today. You've been my student for a while now, and you've already learned the Shield Bash—but I'll admit that that's pretty simple. Anyway, this is a particular favorite of mine. It's known as the Ending Blow." _

"_Is that the one where you do the flips?" Colin said, enraptured. _

_Link shook his head with a smile while he added another pile of grass to his pyramid. "No, that's the Helm Splitter, and I don't think that I'll teach you that one. It's a little too dangerous for you. There's only so much that I'm . . . allowed to teach you, Colin. There are certain techniques that I know that I can't pass on. Anyway, I am going to teach you the Ending Blow, just because it's an essential part of any swordsman's arsenal and it'll probably save your life more than once." _

_Colin sighed when he said that there were certain things that he couldn't learn. He wanted to know everything that Link could teach him. But if he couldn't . . . then, that would be okay with Colin. After all, Link couldn't be wrong in this matter. He was the master after all. Colin nodded and got up off the ground at the thought of a new technique to learn. _

_Link got up and pulled out his sword, a purple and green hilted sword with a longer, deadly shard blade. "Now, Colin, I'm going to teach you the ropes, so watch closely . . ."_

* * *

Colin flipped off of the Bulbin and sheathed his sword with a flourish, thinking off the memory of his first of the "Hidden Skills" as Link called them. Later, Link would tell him that he was only allowed to pass on that two that Colin had learned: the Shield Bash and the Ending Blow. The rest were for the history books, Link said, until someone else who bared the name "Hero" followed after him. Colin didn't really understand it, but he knew enough to know that they just weren't for him.

Earlier, the memory would have brought a smile to Colin's face, but now it brought only sadness and darkened Colin's mood even further.

Colin tightened his red scarf around his neck as he headed up the narrow worn path to the Forest Temple. He had treaded this path often over the past few years. He raised a hand to Trill the parrot as he walked by. The blue-feathered bird squawked from his perch that Colin should by some red potion or lantern oil from him ("but don't you dare rip me off!") as he walked by.

* * *

_Link dragged a struggling Colin up the path. Colin, after nearly two months of swordplay, was no longer the slight young boy that he once was. He was turning into a man, and he could at least try to protest. Link gritted his teeth. "Come on, Colin. I'm trying to show you how to get into Forest Temple. You have your lantern, right?" _

"_I do," Colin said, "but isn't this one of those dungeons that you told me about? The ones that are full of monsters?" _

"_Oh, don't sound scared, Colin," Link said, smiling slightly. "I'm confident of your abilities. I've taught you everything you need to know to handle this. Besides, this is the weakest of the dungeons. You'll be able to handle this for sure. Just be careful of the Tile Worms. You don't have the Gale Boomerang, and I don't think that I'll be giving you mine."_

"_Tile Worms?!" _

"_Don't worry. I'll be at your side the entire way. Who knows? Maybe someday you'll come here without me, fighting by yourself." _

_Colin scoffed. "Like that'd happen. I'm twelve!"_

* * *

That memory made Colin give a slight, sad smile. He was nearly sixteen now, and he had gone into the Forest Temple more times that he could count. He started going when he had turned fourteen. That was the first time that he had beaten his father in combat, training restlessly ever after Link left. Savoring his victory, he headed out into the Forest Temple, burning his way past the spider webs that seemed to regrow every time that he came back.

Colin reached the stumps where Talo had once been captured, Link had told him. Colin had never been a part of that adventure. He had been the boy who had worried and stayed home, the one who had told Rusl what was going on because he was worried for their safety. Now, he knew that no one would come after him. He could take care of himself out in the forest. Back then, Colin had been the one who stayed behind. Now, Colin was the one who ventured forth into the forest more often than anyone else.

The spider web burned from the fire in Colin's lantern. Colin moved into the deep tunnel, his lantern on his belt, tapping against the loose tan pants on his thigh. His hand itched for his sword as he descended into the depths below.

He wandered through the tunnels, fighting the beasts within who always seemed to come back whenever he left. Some of the pots were broken, which were the ones that either he or Link had broken on previous adventures. Usually, Colin didn't like to break the pots because the loud cracking sound would probably attract more monsters than Colin wanted on his tail. Especially if they were Skulltulas. The spider-like creatures were the most powerful in the dungeon, and they were quite literally everywhere.

* * *

"_LINK! LOOK OUT!" Colin cried as a spider approached Link from the back. _

_The green-clad hero turned around calmly and drew his sword. "Don't worry, Colin, I know it's there." _

_With a sharply executed spin attack and a quickly-delivered finishing blow, the spider was a corpse on the ground. Link ripped his blade out of the now-dead beast and cleaned the green and black blood of the blade by plunging it into the soft ground. _

"_That's a Skulltula, Colin. They are by far the strongest monster that you will encounter in this temple nowadays. Be careful of their pincers, and they tend to block straight-on blows with their front legs. In this dungeon—and in other places across Hyrule—they tend to hang from the ceiling or the trees with their webs and drop down when you approach. After all, they're always looking for a free meal." _

_Link pulled his sword out of the ground and the blade seemed to shine, especially on the Triforce on the hilt. Colin recognized it only because it was the symbol of the royal family. _

_Link twirled his sword back into his sheath and placed a hand to his chin. "Hmm . . . maybe next time I'll let you handle it." _

_Colin's eyes widened dangerously. "You can't be serious!" _

_Something in Link's eyes darkened and the blue inside them turned feral and age-old. His voice carried a hint of sorrow when he spoke. "Unfortunately, I'm always serious."_

* * *

Colin moved into the deeper parts of the dungeon. As soon as he reached the room he called the wind gorge, he couldn't go any further. It was the lightest room of the entire dungeon, open to the air. It was a jutting of rocks on both rock cliffs on either side of a deep chasm that never seemed to end. Colin could have tried to brave the chasm, but he never truly felt the need. As far as he knew, he needed a piece of weaponry known as the Gale Boomerang to go any further.

Colin wanted to go further today. He had no idea how he would get back, but he wanted to. He was still upset, he was still angry, and he needed to find the stronger monsters that were in the deeper parts of the dungeon.

He still didn't have the Gale Boomerang (apparently, Link owned that weapon, although Colin had never seen it) but he had another way across.

Colin moved away from the chasm and into one of the side tunnels. He found his way to a door, the spider-like lock taunting him. For days he had stared at it and explored literally every inch of the dungeon that he could find to get the key. He only found a half-a-dozen empty chests that Link had left behind before him.

A couple days earlier, Colin had figured it out. Link had gone through to the end of the dungeon, which meant that he had to have unlocked this door. Which means that he had to have relocked it. Colin reached inside of his pouch, bringing out a steel key rusted with the image of a spider in the middle. He had found it in a back chest in the bottom of Link's basement, along with an assortment of other keys that carried different symbols. Some were caked with sand; others were frozen with the remnants of ice. The chest had been locked itself, but Colin just decided to break the stinking thing over his knee.

With a snap, the lock clicked open. Colin smiled as he threaded the key back onto his belt. He probably wouldn't ever need it again, but it was good to have.

Colin made his way into the next room, which was a hub-like crossroads with four different ways to go. In the middle, there was a bridge with a fan-like device on the top. Colin rolled up his sleeves and tied his scarf tightly around his neck. Stepping back a few paces, he got a running start before jumping off of the platform. His strong fingers just brushed the wood of the bridge. He clamped on like his life depended upon it. Colin panted as he pulled his entire body weight onto the bridge. He sat down and placed his head between his knees, breathing heavy.

He was remembering why he didn't go this far into the temple.

Colin leaned back and pushed his blond hair out of his blue eyes. He tried to calm his breathing. He hadn't done something like that in a long time. Going back would be difficult. He could only hope that there was another way back to the entrance.

A shout of a Bulbin hung in the air.

Colin jolted to his feet and pulled his sword out of the sheath. On either side of the bridge, there were two Bulbins. Colin shoved his shield onto his arm and got into a stance.

"Bulbins, here?" Colin cursed. He knew that they had become more active over the past few weeks. A few days ago, Captian Falnoff had warned him that the Bulbins were coming back into the territories, frightening the populace of Hyrule.

Colin leveled his breathing and ran towards one of the Bulbins, slashing and pushing it off of the teetering bridge. The creature cried as if fell to its death and Colin didn't feel the least bit sorry for it. He turned around just in time to catch the other Bulbin's club on his shield. He pushed back against the force, and as the monster was reeling back, Colin stabbed his sword into the beast's heart. With a shove, he pulled his sword out of the Bulbin and shoved him off the bridge as well.

* * *

_Colin stood over the corpse of a Skulltula, breathing heavy. Link, leaning against the wall of the dungeon, moved towards the boy and clapped him on the back. "Good job, Colin. I couldn't have done it better myself. You're shaping up to be a great swordsman." _

_Colin shoved his sword into the ground and placed his hands on his knees, breathing heavy and hunched over. He regained his breath before he spoke. "What should we do about the body?" _

"_Nothing."_

_Colin looked up at him incredulously. "Really?" _

_Link nodded. "Yep. We just leave it here. You've noticed the stale dungeon air, right? Well, apparently there's some sort of chemical in it that kills the corpses of monsters. It's harmless to living things. Renaldo tried to explain it to me once. I didn't understand a word. Anyway, all I know is that the corpses of the creatures crumble to dust within a day." _

_Colin raised an eyebrow. "That's awfully convenient." _

_Link laughed, which was rare for him. "With all the dangers in a dungeon, I wouldn't call them convenient."_

* * *

Colin rested for a few more moments before heading into the next room, drinking some red potion as he went, saving the rest for later. If it came down to that, the potion would save him from starvation. This room was small, with nothing other than a few holes in the ground and some broken Skulltula strings on the ceiling.

"Ahhhh!"

His sword was out of his sheath before Colin even recognized that the scream was human—and it came from below him.

Without even thinking about it, Colin dropped down one of the holes, breaking his fall with a roll. He got to his feet to an interesting sight.

A young girl, perhaps his age, with dark skin and violent red hair tied in a tight ponytail, was surrounded by the corpses of three Skulltulas while a fourth attacked her with its sharp, poisonous pincers. At her feet were two wide, curved blades. Her clothing was . . . different; that was the only way that Colin could describe it. Her pants were baggy and purple, although they were tight at her ankles. Her feet were covered in practical shoes. She had the sheaths of her two swords across her back, made of coarse leather. She wore darker purple shirt that cut off a couple inches before the waistband of her pants.

Her dark eyes were bright with fear, and she held her hand like it was broken. Her good hand scrambled for her swords on the floor.

Colin ran towards the Skulltula and jumped up before gravity brought him and his sword down on the creature's back. It shouted before dying.

The girl looked up to him wide eyes and grabbed one of her curved blades before backing up further.

Colin pulled his blade out before moving to the girl. "Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you."

"I do not trust you, stranger," she said with clipped and coarse words, a strange accent that Colin couldn't place. "But I thank you for my life. I will not forget this kindness if we ever meet again." She turned to flee, placing one of her swords in her sheath and grabbing the other one off of the blood-soaked ground, still cradling her broken hand.

Colin caught her shoulder before she left. "Wait. What are you doing in the Temple? No one comes here anymore."

She forced her arm out of his grip with strength that Colin didn't know she had. Her eyes were wild as she spoke. "That is none of your business." She paused for a moment before speaking again with a snarl. "I have no time for this!"

The girl sprinted off again, her eyes fearful and her stride frantic, leaving Colin wondering what was going on.

* * *

Nephenee sprinted through the tunnels of the . . . Temple, that man had called it? She had no time to lose. She had to put distance between her and her sisters. She would find her way somehow, but for now she just needed to get away.

Nephenee pulled her broken hand closer in towards herself. She would need to fix it soon. She would have to find some Red Chu Jelly or something else soon, or her hand would be messed up for a long time to come.

She wasn't even sure where she was going, pushing her way through vines and leaves and twigs, jumping over small chasms. She recognized when she left the dark confines of the Temple when the darkness disappeared and saw the sunlight filtered through the trees. Nephenee placed her second scimitar inside its leather sheath as she ran, careful not to trip over the twigs and branches.

Nephenee wasn't sure how long she ran. She just knew that she had to. If she got caught . . . If her sisters found her . . . If she couldn't run fast enough . . .

Nephenee tried not to think about those things.

Finally, after it felt like she had ran for days, Nephenee fell against one of the trees and closed her eyes. She sighed and tried to calm her breathing. When she had rested, she got up and prepared to start running again.

Nephenee's eyes widened. She wasn't in those woods anymore. She wasn't sure where she was. The ground was a mixture of stone and grass. In the middle of it, there was a golden triangle split into three pieces. There was the soft sound of wind blowing through a hole in an odd rock, whistling out a tune. The air was cleaner than she had ever smelled. Floating through the air, there were small, glowing particles that radiated magic.

Nephenee turned around, trying to find the exit, but the way that she had come was now a solid wall of rock behind her. Her eyes widened in shock and fear as she glanced up at the trees in horror.

"Where am I?"


	7. Ch 6: The Resting Place Of Evil's Bane

**A/N: Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Eat some turkey and be happy. Continuing on: Thanks to all of you! Especially those who reviewed! I've gotten overwhelming support for this story, so thanks again to everyone! Disclaimer: I don't own anything Legend of Zelda.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy! **

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Six: The Resting Place of Evil's Bane _

Nephenee did literally everything to that wall.

She had punched, kicked, and yelled at the wall. She tried the small amount of explosives that she had in her pouch. Nothing. Now, she had to resort to giving the wall the silent treatment.

Nephenee sighed and took out some bandages and started wrapping them around her hand, wincing slightly. She supposed that it was a good thing that the wall was there. That way, her sisters couldn't follow her here—wherever she was. Nephenee leaned back onto the tree. How did she get here anyway? She hadn't remembered climbing any trees or falling down anywhere. Sure, when she had been running, she hadn't exactly been thinking straight, but that didn't mean that she had gotten lost.

Nephenee blew one of the floating magical particles away from her face. "Just great," Nephenee said in her own coarse language. "This is what happens when I decide to break from the pack." Nephenee finished tying her bandage tightly, wincing as the knot was finally put into place.

With a hand threaded into her blood red hair, Nephenee had time to think about everything.

"Nabooru," Nephenee murmured. "What happened to you?"

* * *

_Nephenee wasn't sure what to think when a man came out from the desert and declared himself their king. But she was young and willing to accept change. She, like the other young Gerudo, had been fed the tale that one day a king would arrive and lead them. But that was a legend that seemed to have come to life. So, she accepted it for the time being. _

_Nabooru, on the other hand, didn't. _

_Nabooru and Nephenee were the best of friends. They had grown up together, and while all the Gerudo were sisters, the two of them had appealed to be blood-oathed sisters when Nephenee was ten. Their request was accepted, and so they were sisters and respected as such. They fought together, and were considered the brightest warriors of their generation. When Nabooru had come of age in the Gerudo at fourteen, five years before Nephenee, she had been placed with the Marked, the most powerful fighters, the Elite. Five years later, only a few months before the king arrived, Nephenee had been placed with the Dark, the group directly beneath the Marked. Simply being a part of the Marked or the Dark was an honor. _

_Nabooru was logical, headstrong and fiery, which shouldn't go together, but when it was Nabooru, it did. She was admired by many, and was a favorite to become a clan chief in the next few years. She fought with Ishizu, another one of the Marked and the self-proclaimed leader of the elite fighting group, over just about everything. But she believed in the Gerudo way of life—the female way of life—and that meant that she wasn't sold on the idea of the king ruling. _

_Many agreed with her. _

_The only groups who were completely loyal to the king were the Marked and the Dark, the two most powerful groups of the Gerudo. With the powerhouses of the clan taking the side of the king, what were the rest of them to do? There was nothing to do but follow, and most were willing, as duty-bound citizens of the Gerudo, although they weren't happy. _

_Not Nabooru. To her, the Gerudo were a female society and they would always be a female society. While Nabooru had no issue with men, she would not bow to one as her king. Nephenee wasn't quite so bound by tradition, but she would follow her sister to the death. So she opposed the king as well. She wouldn't let Nabooru fight the battle alone. And as the Gerudo became more and more comfortable with the way that the king controlled them, Nabooru's solo quest became more and more alone. Except for Nephenee. She would stay at her sister's side, and she came to believe her sister's view. _

_Soon, the king became comfortable. He said that they needed more land and more power. They needed to spread their influence; they needed to expand their ranks. So, the king suggested a radical idea: leave their desert dunes and invade the country of Hyrule across the mountains. There were tales of Hyrule, in the old history books. Apparently, the Gerudo had once lived in the desert outside of Hyrule, but had left it behind centuries ago because of a war or drought or famine—the history books were never specific. Even the clan elders weren't old enough to remember those days. The sand on the Gerudo side of the mountains was all that they had ever known. To cross them into the country of Hyrule which hadn't seen hide nor hair of Gerudo in centuries—radical._

_When the king proposed the idea, some followed blindly. But others murmured in the dark, wondering who the king was to force them to march, to fight a nation that had no connection to them. That was the birth of the Resistance. _

_Led by Nabooru, the Resistance was a strong group, made up of people who were on her side—and against the king. Nephenee was her right hand; the hand of Nabooru, she was called. They didn't want to invade another country. They didn't want more land. They wanted to live in peace and continue being the powerful (if somewhat thieving) nation that they were. _

_In the middle of their march across the mountains, Nabooru planned a coup. But on that night, the night that they were prepared to risk everything for their freedom, Nabooru didn't come. The tent stayed restless the entire night, waiting for their leader to come and rally them to action. That action never came. _

_Later, Nephenee would learn that Nabooru had been captured by Ishizu, her most hated rival. The self-satisfied smirk on Ishizu's face was all that Nephenee needed to know that it was true. When one of the Resistance came and told her the news, Nephenee did what any soldier of the Gerudo would have done—she prepared to spring Nabooru from her cell. _

_But when Nephenee had gotten there, sneaking through the dark like the thief that she was, Nabooru insisted that she couldn't leave. She was one of the Marked, she was valuable. She was one of the twelve. The king wouldn't risk one of his most powerful servants. She was safe here, Nabooru had said. She was going to be fine, and she could still know what the king was up to. _

"_Keep your enemies closer. I'll stay here and be the closest of them all," she had said. "But you have to leave, little sister." _

_Nephenee was one of the Dark, one of the much larger second group. She was disposable, and there would be others to fill her place. She was the Hand of Nabooru, and the king would have no issues slaughtering her like a suckling pig. She had to run. If Nephenee wanted to live, she had to run. It didn't matter that she would become a traitor the Gerudo and be hunted down. If she wanted to live, she had to run. _

_So Nephenee ran._

* * *

Nephenee tightened her bandage cruelly. She was a Gerudo. She should not have run. She should have stayed there and fought for Nabooru's sake. Now, she had no idea where she was, she was already branded a traitor even if she could find her way back, and even if she wasn't branded a traitor and could find her way back, no one would listen to her. She had already made her choice, and as much as Nephenee could lament that she should have done it different, she couldn't change it.

She had no idea what had happened to her Oath-Sister. Nephenee was worried about Nabooru, but survival was prevalent. She couldn't do a thing to help her if she was dead. But still, there was the nagging voice in the back of her head that said that she had abandoned her Oath-Sister. The vows of an Oath-Sister were binding. Nephenee was supposed to be loyal only to her sisters, and to her Oath-Sister most of all. She had broken that Oath. She had stomped on all of the traditions that she had lived for. And what did she do it for? To stop the king from marching? He was going to anyway. To fight for something that she believed in? She didn't know what she believed in. Nephenee only knew that she was going to follow Nabooru. What had she lost everything for?

Nephenee tried to calm herself down. But what was going on? She was running from her sisters, from the only life that she had known. She had no place of solace. She was on her own, and there was no help coming other than the Gerudo warriors who had probably been sent to silence her. She was stuck in this strange land that had far too many trees. Nephenee was lucky that she knew how to speak Hylian well. Most of the Gerudo learned how to speak some sort of broken Hylian from the old books that they had to take care of. Nephenee was just better at it than others of her race. Otherwise she would have no way of communication, because the people here didn't seem to know Gerudo. There was no place for her to go.

Hell, she didn't even know where she was.

A soft tune whistled through the trees. "You're in the Sacred Grove, of course."

Nephenee jolted up and grabbed her curved scimitar with her good hand. How could she have let her guard down? Someone was here with her.

Her fiery hair fluttered in the wind for a moment of silence as Nephenee was tense for battle. Had one of her sisters found her? No, the accent was far too smooth to be from a Gerudo. A Hylian—or a creature who knew Hylian tongue—was here with her.

"Do you want to play with me?" a high-pitched voice said from directly behind her.

Nephenee wiped around to see a small child-like creature below her. His face was nonexistent, simply black skin stretched over a hollow frame. His clothes were made of leaves and grass. He looked like a stuffed doll. Behind his back, there was an odd-shaped instrument. The creature rocked from foot to foot, giving an unsteady appearance. His eyes glowed red.

_A monster_, Nephenee thought. She had dealt with monsters before. The desert was full of them. She had never met one that could talk though. Could other monsters in this odd land of Hyrule talk as well? That would be disconcerting.

"So, do you want to play with me?" the creature said. "My name's Skull Kid by the way. Oh, and if you do, I'll show you something really interesting." The child gave a smile, showing a mouth that was a void other than sharp teeth.

"Skull Kid," Nephenee murmured, trying the odd word around in her mouth. All of this Hylian language was odd to her, and everyone that she seemed to meet used slang or other styles that she couldn't grasp. She only knew the language from the old books, and apparently they were much more formal than Nephenee had ever wished to be. She much preferred Gerudo, with its coarse vowels and rough syllables. Everything was too smooth in Hylian. "If I play with you, what will this something interesting be?"

The child shifted back and forth on his feet in a playful manner, smiling and leaning forward as he did. "You don't really have a choice, now do you? My magic is the only thing that will get you through the Sacred Grove. Otherwise you're stuck here."

Nephenee stiffened. Her life depended on this child, this monster who would questionably help her? She would die if she couldn't find her way out of these trees. "Skull Kid, are you sure that you are the only person who knows that way out of the Grove?"

"Yep," Skull Kid said immediately. Then he paused. If his face could show emotions, it would probably be displaying confused. "Well, I suppose that you could try him. But I doubt that he'll talk to you. He doesn't talk to anyone other than me."

Deciding to let that odd idea go—since she had no idea what it meant—she turned to look at Skull Kid. "What sort of game are we playing?" Nephenee asked with a determined look in her brown eyes. She would find her way out. She had to get away from her sisters. Either that, or she had to find their base and get Nabooru out of there before she was tortured—or killed. Nephenee didn't have the same faith as her Oath-Sister that the king would keep her alive. Not everyone was as honorable as Nabooru.

The Skull Kid dug her out of her thought as he began to float a few feet in the air, his legs crossed and his odd instrument in his lap. He suddenly disappeared in a gust of wind and a flourish of leaves. Nephenee jumped back and readied her blade. "Din! There's black magic afoot here!" she said cautiously, glancing left and right for the monster child.

"You have to find me!" There was laughter on the wind, as well as remnants of a song.

Nephenee cursed. She didn't have time for this! Actually . . . she had nothing but time. She couldn't get out with the little demon's help, and if that meant that she had to play with Skull Kid, then she would. She didn't really have a choice in the matter. Tightening her bandages on her hand once more and setting it with a couple of twigs, she tested in gingerly. It would hold.

With one hand she held her blade, the other close to her body to protect it. She was a Gerudo. She would not lose to some odd creature with musical tendencies.

Finding him was easier said than done.

The Sacred Grove, the creature had called it, was a maze, and often Nephenee found herself treading back into the same opening cavern that she was in before. Eventually, she just pulled out a dagger and began to cut numbers into the trees to record where she had been. All the while, she followed the soft music that seemed to echo through the grove, played by the odd instrument that the Skull Kid held. Every time that she thought that she got close to the source of the music, it would disappear with the flutter of leaves and she would be off again, trying to find the creature. The music was the only hint that she had, and Nephenee could only pray that it wasn't going to lead her astray. Although the Goddesses might have done it just to spite her. Lately, Nephenee wasn't truly feeling the love.

Nephenee walked through the Sacred Grove, weary. She walked through a wide tunnel into an odd room that was full of trees, flowers and small cliffs that made the space multi-leveled. There was a sudden flow of wind that blew Nephenee's dark red hair. She turned behind her sharply, only to find that tunnel had been closed behind her, replaced by a wall covered in moss that looked like it had been there forever.

Nephenee sighed, and for some strange reason she wanted to punch something. She had been kicked out of her clan, declared traitor, her best friend was most likely imprisoned and being tortured if she hadn't already been killed, she had no way to return and no place to go to, and now the stupid Sacred Grove was playing games with her! Nephenee didn't get upset, she got even. And as useless as punching a wall may be, she really wanted to. Why did this happen to her? Was there some higher power up there that was messing with her? Because if there was, she would really like to punch him out.

Was it all her fault?

_Nabooru . . . are you okay? Is it my fault if you're not? As my Oath-Sister, should I have heeded your words and ran like I did, or should I have stood and fought like the Gerudo that I am . . . that I _was_? Nabooru . . . is it my fault for not protecting you like I said I would? Like I swore I would when we drank the blood-wine that bounded us as sisters? Is it my fault? _

Nephenee paused and leaned against the newly formed wall that looked like it had stood for ages. "I promise," Nephenee murmured. "Nabooru, I promise that I'll come back and save you. On my pride as a Gerudo."

Somehow, saying it aloud strengthened Nephenee's convictions. With her alone in the world—quite literally, other than the mischievous Skull Kid, who still avoided her grasp—she had to have conviction. Nephenee knew the world would spit her out if she didn't. The desert didn't take mercy on the weak.

_CREEEAK. _

Nephenee jolted off of the wall, drawing her scimitar out of its sheath and tightening her broken hand against her side, protecting it in case of a fight. Infront of her, there was a . . . doll? Was it a doll? Nephenee had never seen anything like it, but she knew that it wasn't friendly. It seemed to be made out of wood, covered in a deep purple cloth as its legs floated unbound in midair. It seemed to be controlled by some sort of strings, but nothing connected the doll. It had the same glowing red eyes as the Skull Kid.

The doll . . . puppet . . . thing . . . turned its head nearly halfway around, and as the neck slowly returned to its original position, there was that sound again.

_CREEEAK._

Nephenee adjusted her grip on the sword. "You want to play? Bring it on!" Nephenee sidestepped away from the wall, wanting to get room for her attacks. Nephenee felt the brush of her other sheathed scimitar on her back and wished that her hand wasn't broken. _Damn those Skulltulas. _She always preferred two blades to one. That was the way that she had been taught—the Gerudo way. But she was not weak, and her training ensured that she could fight just as well with one blade.

The doll raised its hands and Nephenee saw that it had elongated silver nails as sharp as any blade. It swiped at her, but Nephenee sidestepped and brought her blade down in a deadly arch, cracking open the wood before jumping back again as the doll swiped again, half of its body hanging loosely from its frame. Nephenee stabbed once more and the puppet fell, creaking once more before falling limp. Nephenee turned away, keeping her sword ready, when she heard a slinking sound behind her. The puppet disappeared into a dark mist, floating through the air and scattered by the wind.

"More dark magic," Nephenee murmured in the coarse Gerudo language. Nephenee knew monsters. The Dark, Nephenee's rank, was tasked with taking out monsters more often than not. She had fought them in the dunes of the desert and in the halls of the ancient Temple where they worshiped the Goddesses, where the spiders and scorpions grew into their darker counterparts. The Temple air was stale and contained a rotting chemical that destroyed the corpses in a few days. All dungeons carried that sort of air, harmless to living things. In the desert, the desert would cover the bodies in the next sandstorm and they would disintegrate under the sand. While travelling across the mountains and into Hyrule, Nephenee learned that the monster's corpses were eaten by scavengers or bacteria. No matter what, the corpses were gone in within a week. Not in a few seconds. Not like that. That was not natural. That was magic. And the Gerudo were wise to fear magic.

Skull Kid's magic. He mentioned something like that during their brief conversation, Nephenee thought. The puppets must have been his toys, another way of him "playing" with her.

Nephenee ran forward, following the steadily-growing tunes of the song, making sure that her guard was up. She needed to find Skull Kid soon, before one of his "toys" killed her.

_CREEAK._

Nephenee looked behind her to see four of the puppets following her. Nephenee turned to face them and unleashed a barrage of swordplay. One of the puppets nicked her cheek. Blood flowed freely while Nephenee finished them off and they faded back into the same odd black dust that spread to the wind and stung at her freshly blooded cheek.

The tanned skinned Gerudo turned and ran again, following the haunting melody of the song. Nephenee knew that she had never heard it before but it was beautiful and spread throughout the trees. She could pretend that she had heard it for ages, even if it was fresh in her mind.

Nephenee passed a room full of waterfalls and lily pads. For a moment she saw Skull Kid dancing on top of a tree stump, playing the melody harshly on his whistle-like instrument before giving her a toothy smile and disappearing in a swirl of leaves and wind. Nephenee cursed harshly. She could have cursed in Hylain, but Gerudo was gruffer and described her feelings better. She began running again, lamenting that the tune was coming from an entirely different direction now.

_CREEAK._

Nephenee sighed and glanced up at the open sky. "You guys really hate me, don't you?" she murmured sourly.

The padding of feet and the creak of wooden puppets following a young Gerudo girl filled the Grove for hours. Every time Nephenee felt like she got close, the Skull Kid would smile and laugh before disappearing again. Occasionally, the Sacred Grove would put up walls or block her path just to annoy her. When she went into the room a second time, the wall would be gone, only to be replaced with a more tedious, more annoying obstacle. Like water. Lots and lots of water. It was like the Grove knew that she couldn't swim.

Nephenee decided that if she ever found that little Demon Child, she would give him a piece of her mind before she gave him a piece of her sword.

She reached an outcropping of rock on a cliff-face of a rock. It led down into a basin surrounded by ruined wall, ivy and sharp cliffs, upon which trees and other vegetation grew. There were platforms scattered around the circular room—tree stumps, ruined concrete, patches of rock, large boulders. In the middle, on a tree stump taller than the rest, sat the Skull Kid, lazily creating the song.

Nephenee jumped down from the ledge and landed softly on the grass. She pointed at Skull Kid with her blade. "I found you, creature," Nephenee said in her overly-formal Hylian. "Now tell me how to get out of this Grove."

Skull Kid placed his instrument in his lap and the music died. Nephenee felt a strange sort of loss that it was gone. The Skull Kid gave her another sharpened smile and Nephenee resisted the urge to shudder. She was a Gerudo. She had faced worse than this odd creature.

"Normally, I would challenge you to a duel," the creature said as he began to levitate in midair, "but I've had so much fun. I haven't done that in a long time. I'll postpone the duel for now, tanned girl."

"Creature, you must keep your end of the bargain," Nephenee said through gritted teeth, feeling that it would have been much easier if she could have just cussed out the creature in Gerudo. Unfortunately, she didn't know any curse words in Hylian.

"Hmm . . . I said that'd I show you something interesting. Okay, then." Skull Kid pointed at one of the ruined walls, and it disappeared to show a small moss covered tunnel. Skull Kid placed a hand to his chin. "Tanned girl, I don't actually know the way out of this Grove. I've lived here all my life. Why would I need to know the way out? I have everything that I need right here. Why would I ever want to leave?"

"DEMON—"

Acting as if Nephenee had never spoken, Skull Kid continued on. "However, go through that tunnel. Perhaps you'll learn the way out there. That's all I'll say."

Skull Kid twirled in air and vanished as leaves circled around him, leaving only a final phrase of the song that he was playing. Nephenee gritted her teeth and wished that she could crack her knuckles, if not for her broken hand. She stalked off towards the tunnel, placing her scimitar inside its leather sheath. She wiped her bleeding cheek with her good hand before wiping that on her tight dark purple shirt.

"May the desert ants eat your corpse," Nephenee murmured in Gerudo. Nephenee probably would have gotten slapped if the elders could hear her now. Being eaten by the ants was the worst fate for the dead, since the Gerudo believed the cremation was the way for your soul to given to the Goddesses.

Nephenee headed through the tunnel that Skull Kid had opened up. As she exited it, she was hit by a beam of sunlight so strong that she squinted and raised a hand in front of her face. It seemed brighter here, somehow. Nephenee stepped forward to see that she was in a circular glade. Behind her were the ruins of an archway and there was scattered walls around the circle, near the trees, giving the impression that it was once a hall. In the middle of the glade, there was a sword stabbed into a pedestal. The sword was longer than natural, a hand-and-a-half sword. It had a purple and green wrapped hilt with a wing-like guard. At the base of the blade, there was an odd triangular symbol, split into three. Nephenee didn't recognize it.

A growl rippled through the trees. Nephenee immediately grabbed the hilt of her curved scimitar.

Sitting on the base of the pedestal, wrapped around the sword, there was a black wolf with white markings down its sides, and elaborate seal on its head. One of its paws was chained with a broken cuff of heavy steal. It was larger than most wolves that Nephenee had seen. It was powerful and strong with muscles all down its corded frame. Oddly, its ears were pierced with small blue hoops.

The wolf opened its eyes and looked at her coldly, the ice cold blue of a feral beast.


	8. Ch 7: A Game Of Strategy

**A/N: Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda is not owned by me. Well, you can't have everything in life. **

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Seven: A Game of Strategy _

Zelda moved a piece on the board. "Checkmate, Nestor."

Nestor raised a hand to his chin and looked at the board closely in a comical manner. He smiled. "Well, it seems that it is. I must say, Zely, I sort of miss the days when I could beat you at every game. You would cross your arms and demand a rematch. Now it seems that it's my turn to do the same." The old man smiled as he began to set the game up for another round.

The two were sitting in Zelda's room. Many rooms and staircases of the castle had been destroyed by the Twilight War but Zelda's wing of the castle had been untouched, mostly because Zant had imprisoned her in it. Her room was in perfect condition, if a bit dark and dreary, but it had always been that way. Light flickered from the fireplace, sending shadows across the dark brick walls. Her canopy bed was impeccably made, as it always was. Her desk was full of scrolls concerning magic and spells and illusive remnants of the ancient past, combined with some books about hand-to-hand combat. Reading it from a book wasn't nearly as affective as having a teacher show you how to handle the moves, Zelda knew, but it was better than nothing. Most of the palace guards would gawk at attempting to teach a princess combat. Zelda couldn't quite comprehend why it was such a big issue. Her father himself, despite being a terrible politician and allowing the nobles to run the country, had given her the first bow that she had ever owned. That was the beginnings of becoming a master archer.

Currently, her Light Bow was cleverly hidden under her bed along with some other secrets that she wouldn't divulge. She could summon the weapon at will, but that didn't mean that it didn't need to stick somewhere in the meantime—somewhere where the maids wouldn't find it. Zelda may have been paranoid, but she was no longer sure how much of the staff was loyal to her or loyal to the deep pockets of the nobles. At this point in the game, she raised no flags and took no chances. She and the council were on even rougher ground now than ever.

Zelda didn't understand what Shen was getting at when he approached her after last week's council meeting. Zelda's nerves were on the fritz from the letter that she had received at the council meeting before that one, and she hadn't been her usual self. She had been distracted, and if someone did snap her out of her haze, her response would not come without a few unwarranted insults. She didn't know what to do. There was only one thing that she needed—a Hero. And as far as she knew, the only person who could handle the job was Link, the young farm-boy turned swordsman who had been missing for the last three years. When he had first disappeared, Zelda sent out parties, troops, everything. With only two months gone from the Twilight War, Zelda knew that it wasn't an unlikely idea that he had been captured by remnants of Twilight Beasts—or that the peace that Midna promised wouldn't last after all. With the thought that another war could be approaching, Zelda was desperate to find the only halfway competent Hero that she knew. But as the months passed and nothing happened, no new leads or threats were discovered; the search parties dwindled until they were nonexistent. Zelda wasn't convinced that he was dead—no, Link was a Hero. He couldn't have been dead. Zelda was only convinced that he didn't want to be found.

But Zelda had to find him. This was no longer an issue of personal interest—this was life-threatening.

Shen had come up to her and asked if they could walk in the garden, to which Zelda agreed to with caution. She would have flat out said no if it weren't for the other nobles who were waiting at the edges of the throne room, watching her every move. She didn't want to gain more enemies. For the time being, she had to at least pretend that she was interested in finding a king for the throne. Zelda knew that the council would not wait much longer. The princess had already thought of the idea of taking a noble—any noble—who would be easily controlled as her husband. He would sit on the throne while she would make all of the decisions. But Zelda . . . didn't want it to come to that. She was willing to give up her freedom for Hyrule's, but not until she was assured that it would make a difference. Sacrifices had to be made for a reason.

The night had been cold as they walked through the garden, but Zelda refused to shiver or ask to go back inside. She was wearing only a light blue dress that hugged her frame and was made of an airy fabric. The jewels and ribbons that made up her crown were firmly placed in her brown hair—no one would know that it took nearly an hour to put all of the decorations in just the right place—and a single white gold necklace wrapped around her neck. She was not dressed to be out in the chilled night. But she refused to allow it to affect her. Somehow, Zelda thought that if she even allowed one shudder to rack her frame, she would be letting Shen win. And that was something that she refused to do.

Despite her urge to cross her arms and get some warmth back into her fingers, Zelda reminded herself that princesses don't cross their arms in public, so her hand was wide open when Shen grabbed it and clasped it in his. Zelda was shocked, but that emotion was replaced quickly with one of disgust and distaste. She resisted her need to smack him hard across the face and grab her hand back. She may not always like her role of princess, but she was one, and treating her with such callousness without her permission would be enough to get him imprisoned if he was of a lesser rank.

"My dear Zelda," Shen had said, his clean white teeth shining at her, "how have you been lately? You seemed out of sorts at the council meeting today. You were not your usual self."

Zelda had forced a smile, when all she really wanted to do was stalk out of the garden like a petulant child. "Lord Shen, your kindness is appreciated, but I am simply tired. The role of ruling a kingdom is not an easy one, and I seem to have missed my sleep these past few nights. If it has put me in a sour mood, I do apologize for it."

Shen waved a soft hand in the air. "No apology needed. It must be tough running a country by yourself." Shen got a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Have you considered easing that burden? Allowing someone to take the pressures of the reign from your shoulders occasionally?" He tightened his grip on her hand. Zelda had the sudden thought that his hands were softer than hers, since her own were hardened from fighting and archery.

"I have taken it into consideration, of course," Zelda said calmly. "But this is a tough decision to make, seeing as the weight of a nation would be pushed onto their shoulders." Zelda squirmed and wished that she could have her hand back.

"Some would accept it willingly," Shen said quickly, perhaps in an attempt to seem sincere. He moved closer to Zelda, and she shuddered at the feeling of his body so close to hers.

Zelda pulled her hand out of his grip. Her dark blue eyes were as cold as ice; her voice as hard as stone. "Yes, I know, Shen. Those are the ones I watch out for the most."

Without even excusing herself, Zelda moved away from the garden, leaving Shen behind her. When she had returned to her room, she scrubbed her hands until they were red, but she still got the feeling that they weren't free from all the grime. Later, she would tell Kukiel about the incident and vent all of her frustrations—leaving out some of the more important ones.

Zelda grimaced as she watched Nestor set up the chess board for another match. Shen usually wasn't so bold in his advances. She knew that he had other council members come up to her and suggest how they would make a fine couple, how Shen would make a great king. Zelda tried to do her best not to explain every way that that statement was incorrect. But she accepted it with a smile and a nod. Maybe being the politically correct princess had saved her worries, but now Shen thought that it was alright to approach her.

"Zely, is something wrong?" Nestor asked with his concerned, knowledgeable eyes.

_Everything's wrong. Nothing will be the same anymore. Nothing is simple._

"I'm fine, Nestor," Zelda said with a smile.

Nestor gave her a doubtful look. The wise old man had been around since Zelda was a baby and he could tell when she was lying. Luckily, he didn't press the matter. He just pursed his thin lips and turned back to the board, placing the queen on the chess board. He handed a few pawns to Zelda.

"Zely, if you leave everything in your own hands, there will be nothing left for the rest of the world. And no one will be able to catch your hand as you fall."

Zelda paused as she placed another piece on the chess board. There was a moment of silence before she spoke. "I'm a princess, Nestor. I can carry my burdens."

"Just letting you know that there are people who will take some of the load of your hands."

Zelda shivered when she realized that it was nearly exactly what Shen had said over a week ago. But she knew that Nestor wasn't vying for power. But it made her blood turn cold when she realized that kindness and deceit sounded too close to each other for comfort. She pushed it out of her mind as she laid the last piece on the chess board.

"You've got other things to worry about," Zelda said in a playfully serious tone. "Good sir, it seems to be your move."

"Indeed it is, my fair lady," Nestor said with a smile before moving a pawn into position.

As they played, they brushed over a few meaningless topics senselessly. Zelda knew that he was trying to get her mind off of her problems; Nestor knew that it wasn't working. Zelda was distracted throughout the game, but she played well each time she moved. She carried the Triforce of Wisdom, after all. There would be no easy way to win against her in a battle of wits, even if her mind was far off in other land. As Zelda glanced out of the window again, her brow creased in worry, it might as well have been.

Their game was interrupted by a cough. Nestor jumped out of his skin while Zelda turned to see a young Sheikah leaning against the wall. Before speaking to the man, she watched Nestor closely while he tried to regain his breath. Zelda was certain that the Sheikah were bad for his health. Between Kukiel and the occasional messengers, like the man who had intruded upon them today, Nestor never got a break. There was always someone else jumping out to shock him.

This Sheikah must have been stealthier than the other low-ranked ones who were her messengers. Zelda didn't feel neither the door nor the window open, and it was storming outside. She hadn't felt a raindrop. He seemed to have been there for a while, considering his bored look and relaxed position. Clearly he was skilled at blending into the background, a skill that all Sheikah learned eventually, but took years to master.

The Sheikah wore typical garb for his clan—close, tight black shirts and pants and an assortment of other equipment, adding the Sheikah symbol here and there. His hair was black and both his head and his face were wrapped, leaving on the strip of skin near his eyes and a few loose bangs free. Most Sheikah wore some sort of mask—other than Kukiel, but that was only because Zelda insisted. Talking to a masked Sheikah who showed no emotions was like talking to a brick wall. The Sheikah was young—maybe a year or so younger than Zelda's twenty two. He was taller than Kukiel, who was no midget herself, bordering on six foot. His build was slight but strong, much like most of the Sheikah, who were built for stealth over strength.

But what attracted Zelda's eye was his bare left cheek. He hadn't been Blooded by the Sheikah yet.

Blooding was also known as "earning the Tear" or being "Teared." Not all Sheikah were Blooded. It was a rare occurrence, but it was something that every Sheikah strived for. Being one of the Blooded meant that you were privy to their secrets and that you had the right to protect the royal family. It was like being an officer in an army. Every Sheikah trained for the day that they could be considered worthy of becoming a Blooded. Those decisions were made by the clan chief and the clan chief only. To be given the Tear was to be recognized as a true warrior.

This Sheikah was not a Blooded member, yet he could sneak into Zelda's chambers without a sound. Because of her magic, Zelda had pretty good senses. It took a lot of trying to get past her. Most of the time she could even catch Kukiel when her bodyguard tried to sneak up on her. There was only one Sheikah that she knew that was unBlooded and yet so stealthy.

"Ren?" Zelda said hesitantly.

Maybe she had imagined it, but the man seemed to smile. "Yes, I'm Ren. It's been a while, Sh- Princess."

Zelda pretended like she didn't hear his slip up, although she sent a subtle glance to Nestor, who was looking more and more confused by the second. She prayed that her old advisor wouldn't look any further into it than he had to, although it was his job to constantly look into things. "How long's it been? I barely recognized you!"

"It's only been two months. You barely recognized me because I don't usually walk around with the head mask." Ren said, waving a hand in greeting. "But I'm on a mission, and it's protocol."

It was rare for the unBlooded to be sent on any mission concerning the royal family, but Ren was the exception. He had joined the Sheikah when he was an orphan running around the streets of Castle Town, stealing food. Soon, he became one of the brightest Sheikah they had. He was a natural strategist and preferred to think things through. He was also a skilled knife handler, although he preferred hand-to-hand combat, as most of the shadowed clan did. There was no reason that he shouldn't have been Blooded twice over. But the clan had said the he wasn't old enough yet. It was true—Ren had just turned twenty-one, and no one was Blooded that young in the Sheikah. The only exception was Kukiel, who had been given the Tear when she was nineteen, after she saved Zelda from an assassination attempt nearly seven years ago. The decision to give the honor to one so young ruffled some feathers in the more traditional Sheikah. To avoid conflict, the higher-ups in the Sheikah decided that they would wait longer until giving the Tear to members. It was an honor, after all, and wasn't to be given to the young. So Ren remained unBlooded, but always seemed to be given missions closer to the royal family. The clan wouldn't ignore true skill, and Ren had that.

Zelda smiled. "Yes, I know, Ren. I see you still haven't been Blooded."

Ren nodded, always vigilant, but with a hint of a grimace underneath his mask. "I'm still not old enough, according to the elders and advisors. Even Tempa admits that I should have been Blooded more than three years ago. But she still gives me missions with the royal family, silently acknowledging my skill. It's nice in a way."

Zelda turned her chair away from the chess board. "What do you have to report?"

Ren glanced at Nestor with a silent warning. The old man sighed. "I know, I know. No important secrets for the advisor," he complained with a slight smile, not truly phased. He knew how things worked with the Sheikah. Even if Zelda herself told Ren that it was okay to speak in front of Nestor, he wouldn't. In the eyes of the Sheikah, some things were for the royal family and the royal family only.

Before leaving the room, Nestor tipped over his king on the chess board. "Your skill at chess grows every day, Princess. But try not to let the details distract you from the game."

With that, Nestor left the room quietly, mumbling something about the good old days when he was appreciated. As soon as he shut the door, Zelda got up from the carved chair that she was sitting in and Ren moved off of the wall he was leaning against. The two walked towards each other before pausing.

Zelda moved first and reached out a hand to Ren, curving her arm like they were about to arm wrestle. Ren hesitated for a moment before grasping it and pulling Zelda in for a clap on the back before separating. Zelda smiled and punched Ren on the shoulder.

"How you've been, Ren?" Zelda's voice was full of familiarity and happiness and she couldn't help but smile. "I haven't seen you since you left to go on some mission to the south-east. You've been good?"

Ren glanced at Zelda up and down. "It's been a while, hasn't it? Anyway, look at you. You're dolled up like a princess. I can't say that it suits you."

Zelda rolled her eyes. "I have a part to play, Ren. And don't tell me that you're not like that as well. For Nayru's sake, you're still wearing the head mask. We've both got a ridiculous sense of duty, wouldn't you say?"

Ren nodded. "It's odd seeing you here, acting like a princess. Maybe it's just me, but you don't really seem all pristine and polished. If I know you—and I do—you're more of the person who gets her hands dirty herself."

Zelda shrugged and sighed. She sat back down in the chair and the smile left her face. "It's the role that I was born to play. But it's not the easiest role in the world. Sometimes I just want to go out there and get away, but I'm a princess. And I won't shy away from that, no matter how hard it is. I mean, the council's fighting me, and I've got bad news from the sages—really bad news. I was going to talk to Kukiel about this, but I've sent her on a mission. You came at exactly the right time."

Ren sat down in the other chair and relaxed, setting up the chess board again. Ren was usually constantly consistent and serious, but he and Zelda had known each other for a long time, and there was no reason not to be at ease with her. "There's nothing wrong with you getting away from it, although I must admit that my opinion of you might drop if you decided that you wanted to leave your responsibilities."

Zelda laughed. "Please. You know me. I would never leave this country to someone else just because it's hard. This is my duty. It is my responsibility. I wouldn't leave it for anything. I proved that in the Twilight War." Zelda's eyes were fierce with determination.

Ren chuckled softly through the layers of his mask as he set up the last few pieces. He gestured to the board. "We should play a game while I tell you my news and you give me your orders." He gestured to the board.

Zelda smiled. "What's the score? Twelve to eleven in my favor?"

Ren moved a piece carefully. "Not for long, Sh-Princess." Ren shook his head. "It's hard to remember that you're a different person right now." He sobered instantly as Zelda made her move. "There's bad news to the south-east."

"The Gerudo?" Zelda whispered carefully as she took Ren's knight. He countered with a devastating strike to her bishop.

Ren nodded. "It looks like it. They're on the move. Coming over the mountains, and quickly. I came to the castle as fast as I could from the Sheikah Tunnels, but my report is a few days old. I'm not sure of their status currently, but we can't expect good things."

Zelda grimaced as she stared at the board intently. "The Gerudo are a peaceful people. Why would they come now? We've maintained an almost nonexistent relationship with them over the years."

Ren moved one of his pieces swiftly. "Check, Princess. There's word of a new 'king' within the ranks. One that has his eyes set on destroying Hyrule and its people."

Zelda grimaced as she moved her king out of danger. "I thought as much. This brings me to another issue I have. I need you to handle it."

"An order, Princess?" All familiarity left his face as he changed from being her friend to being another one of her servants, loyal to protecting the crown.

"Yes. Official order from the Crown, as decreed by Princess Zelda of Hyrule, regent of the Provinces, ruler of the Snowpeak and Gerudo Desert territories, to the Sheikah, the shadowed protectors of the realm: the sages shall be under your protection. Move them into the dark corners of the Sheikah Tunnels and make sure that they are protected no matter what. Their whereabouts must be protected at all costs."

Ren looked at her carefully. "You do realize that you're incriminating yourself by telling the entire clan to be silent?"

Zelda nodded. "I know. It's odd, living this life. But I needed some way to be involved. If that means that I have to fall victim to my own laws, that just proves that I'm as equal as everyone else."

"You're going to be a great queen, Princess," Ren said softly as he placed another piece on the board.

"That depends, Ren," Zelda murmured. "With the way that things are going, I may not have a kingdom to protect soon. My second, less official order: Get the Sheikah ready for war. I'm not sure when it'll come, but it'll be tough to fight with just the army. They're dismally weak, and this country needs protection. The Sheikah are the only fighters I've got left."

Ren nodded. "I'll get on that as soon as I get back to the tunnels." On the board, He moved his queen to pressure Zelda's pieces. "Where are the sages currently? I can take them with me when I go back to the Tunnels."

"There's no need," Zelda stated. "They know the old magic. They'll be able to get there on their own. I'll tell them to look for you when the six of them arrive."

They played in silence for a few moments. Suddenly, there was a gust of wind. Ren and Zelda didn't look up from the chess board as Kukiel appeared, bowing before the princess, her hand fisted over her heart. Her face was grim, and her tattooed Tear glimmered in the light.

"Report," Zelda said wearily.

"We've found him," Kukiel said in a calm tone.

Zelda moved a single piece on the board decisively. She glanced at Ren with the hint of a smirk.

"Checkmate."


	9. Ch 8: Dark Clouds On The Horizon

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed, story-alerted, or favorited! I don't respond to reviews due to time constraints, but I appreciate every single one that I receive. If you want a response to a certain review, just PM me. I might have mentioned this before, but this fic is not Zelda/Link, although the two of them are the main characters. I just wanted everyone to know that. It's not really a romance fic. **

**Disclaimer: Do. Not. Own. Yeah, that's about it. **

**Read, Review, and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign _

_Chapter Eight: Dark Clouds on the Horizon_

Colin eventually had to turn back. Apparently he had more than one lock to contend with; once Colin hit the second locked door, he decided to go back, if only to scour Link's basement once more and figure out how to get past these obstacles. Link obviously didn't want anyone to go further without his knowing. Oh, well, Colin would figure it out eventually. He always did.

For a moment, his thoughts strayed back to the girl that he had found in the Temple. After she had run away from him, Colin searched around the Skulltula pit until he decided that nothing could be done. But . . . it was strange. There were no passageways, no cracks, nothing. There was no place that she could have slipped through out of the room. And as far as Colin knew, the only way out of the Forest Temple is the same way that you came in. The pit was completely circular other than the tree trunks and the stump in the middle of the room, covered in the remnants of a broken cage.

Colin stared at the walls for a ridiculous amount of time while the Skulltula corpses behind him hissed as they were decomposed by the stagnant dungeon air. As the ungodly smell of rotting flesh entered into the confined space of the spider pit, Colin wrapped his scarf around his mouth, covering his face from the bridge of his nose. It was the reason that he had the scarf in the first place. The smell of rotting spider meat could overwhelm a person, and he had no desire to hack up a lung. Colin decided that wherever the girl had wandered off to, she was on her own. But Colin didn't like it. The girl was injured and limping, terrified by something that Colin wasn't aware of. Colin didn't like to abandon her to the woods in her state. He should have at least tried to bring her back to Ordon Village to heal her.

But Colin couldn't do anything to change that. And after he came across the second locked door with no way forward, he decided to leave the dungeon alone for now.

The moon was bright and high in the sky as Colin left the dungeon. Colin was a bit surprised that so much time had passed, but it had happened before. In the dungeon, there was no such thing as sleep because the monsters wouldn't. There was no such thing as time, because the locks would remain no matter how many years passed. There was no such thing as safety. It was you and your wits against the creatures and most certain death. It was why adventurers found it so invigorating.

Colin walked past Trill, who squawked at him to buy some more lantern oil. Seeing the level in his lantern, he took the odd parrot up on his offer. Colin tipped the bird a few extra rupees like he always did. After all, there was no need for currency in Ordon Village. Where else was he going to spend it? It wasn't like he was headed to Castle Town anytime soon.

"What a generous guy!" the bird chirped while hoping down from his perch to inspect the money that he had been given.

Colin smiled for a moment. Rolling his shoulders back and cracking his knuckles, he looked up at the stars. Something about the Temple caused all of his anxiety to disappear. He felt better than he had in days, more alive than he had since Captain Falnoff came to the Village two weeks ago. Life in the Forest Temple was so simple—you fought and searched, and if you didn't fight well or search quickly, you were dead. It was clear cut and simple. And although it was a cold reality, it was a breath of fresh air.

The swordsman turned to head back into the village, walking past the glowing light of Faron Spring. The Deku Babas had not yet regenerated, so they wouldn't bother him on this path through the woods. As the glowing pink fairies winked at him from above the clean waters of the spring, a piece of white cloth caught his attention.

Colin walked over to it briskly and tore it out of the tree. Underneath the cloth, there was a single arrow carved into the tree, pointing towards the Ordon Province. Colin tightened his grip on the piece of cloth. This wasn't good news. Suddenly, he thought that the girl who had been in the dungeon hadn't been there on a pleasure call after all.

Searching the pathway up ahead, one hand on the Ordon Sword, Colin found another piece of cloth and another arrow. They were subtle, hidden in plain sight, where they wouldn't be contested. It wasn't unusual, but Colin could tell that something was amiss. He treaded back to the village with a heavy heart and a painful grip on the strips of fabric.

After all, he could tell a war scout's trail when he saw one.

Someone—something—was coming.

* * *

Nephenee jumped back and tried to be silent. Why was there a wolf here? A wolf that seemed to have dangerously sharp teeth and over-alert eyes. Her hand itched to pull out the scimitar and try to fight the beast. But something stopped her. Maybe it was the intelligent look in the beast's eyes. Or maybe it was the fear that, if she drew her weapon, the wolf would attack. The wolf got up off the pedestal and moved towards Nephenee slightly. For every step that it took, she took one backwards, until her back was up against a wall.

Which hadn't been there earlier.

The Grove was playing with her. Nephenee gritted her teeth and punched the wall with her good hand, only to shake it with pain. Great. Now she was going to get eaten by a wolf because the Din-damned Sacred Grove was playing with her!

There was a strange sound, like someone had pulled a rag out of a clogged drain. Nephenee turned around to see the wolf moving away from her, curling around the sword again, making that strange sound. It took her a moment, but Nephenee finally realized that the wolf was laughing at her. Its head was rested on its paws, shaking slightly while it made that odd noise.

Nephenee crossed her arms. "Are you laughing at me, you foolish beast?" she asked in her odd Hylian.

To her shock, the beast nodded its head.

Her golden eyes widened. "You can understand my words, wolf?"

It nodded again, and unwrapped itself from around the pedestal once more to tug on Nephenee's pants lightly with his teeth. Nephenee, in her shock, didn't move away this time. The wolf led her to the edge of the clearing and leaned her against the rock. Nephenee sat down, landing roughly and brushing her broken hand against the rock. She winced and cradled the broken appendage closer to herself.

Nephenee cursed herself for being so stupid. She had been wandering around that Temple and she had come across the equivalent of a Skulltula Den. Nephenee had been unprepared and surprised when one of the monsters came up behind her and tried to eat her shoulder. Desperate, she forced the creature away with a quick strike from her palm, but its hard shell had broken her hand. Or her wrist. At the moment, she wasn't sure which one hurt more.

The wolf looked at her closely before nudging her broken hand with its nose.

"Stop that!" Nephenee winced from the sudden pressure on her broken bones. The wolf pressed his nose to it once more. "Ow! Creature, please!"

The beasts rolled its eyes at her, pushing against the bandages once more. There was something in its eyes. Nephenee tilted her head in slight confusion.

"Do you want me to show it to you?"

The wolf nodded.

Hesitantly and faithless, Nephenee held her hand out the wolf, who touched it lightly with its nose a few times. It was lighter than the pressure that it had been before. The wolf looked at her with its age old eyes for a moment, and Nephenee had the sudden instinct that the wolf wasn't a beast at all. She had already figured out that it was intelligent, but she had never thought that it was . . . so human.

The wolf moved away from her hand and turned. It ran straight through the wall that had stopped Nephenee from leaving the clearing. The rock simply faded in its wake. Seeing her chance, Nephenee got up immediately, but as soon as she got to the archway, it faded back into a wall. She touched it carefully with her good hand.

Hard as stone. She really hated magic.

Why could that wolf get through the Grove's magic, and she couldn't? Nephenee turned and leaned against the rocks of the clearing. Her eyes strayed towards the sword in the middle. It was straight, not curved like her scimitars, and longer than normal blades. Her eyes moved to the dented Triforce in the metal. The blade looked pristine, like it had never been used. She wondered why it was there, and why there was a wolf protecting it.

Nephenee moved towards the blade slowly. She reached out a hand and touched the hilt. She probably wasn't supposed to touch it, but she never was one for caution. The wolf was gone for the time being, and there could be no harm in touching it, right?

Actually, there could be a lot of harm in it, a voice told her, but she ignored that voice.

She tried to pull the sword out from the pedestal, but it remained solid within the rock. It didn't move an inch. It was as if it simply didn't want to come out. Nephenee tugged on it once more, trying to force it to come out, but it wouldn't budge. Maybe if her hand wasn't broken, she could have pulled it out. But something told her that no matter how hard she tried, there would be no way of removing the sword from the stone.

As she released the sword, there was a deep growl behind her. Nepheneee jolted and turned back around so fast that she hit herself with the end of her ponytail. The wolf was back. It was growling and showing off its sharp teeth. The eyes that she had once thought were so human were now nothing beast, dark and dangerous, ready to kill her if it had to.

Nephenee's golden eyes were wide with fear as she took a step away from the sword. "I am sorry. I am very, very sorry, wolf."

The wolf growled once more, taking a step closer to Nephenee.

Nephenee glanced back at the blade. "You are the protector of this Grove?"

The wolf shook its head, but didn't lose the feral look in its eyes. For a moment, its eyes flicked over to the blade. It was subtle, but Nephenee caught the movement.

"No, no. You are the protector of the blade," Nephenee said as she took a few more steps back gingerly.

The wolf nodded carefully, its eyes constantly flicking back to the sword. It growled once more in warning before turning away and going back to the wall which faded before it again. Nephenee worried that she had angered her only chance of getting out of the Sacred Grove. After all, if nothing else, she would starve to death in a few days. She wasn't sure what was edible in these woods and what wasn't, and she didn't want to risk poisoning herself.

Suddenly, the wolf came back, holding the cork of a red bottle in its mouth. The beast carefully dropped it onto the ground by Nephenee's feet. She moved over and picked it up while the wolf moved to wrap itself around the pedestal again.

Nephenee turned the bottle around in her hands. It was actually a clear jar filled with a red liquid. She smiled slightly when she realized that it was full of Red Chu Jelly, or something to its equivalent. She gulped it down and shuddered. It definitely wasn't Red Chu Jelly. Chu Jelly was smooth. This had chunks and other odd spices in it. She supposed that it was the Hylian equivalent. But that didn't stop her from feeling like she had swallowed vomit.

A warm feeling ran from her heart to her fingers. She stretched, allowing the potion to rejuvenate her body. Carefully, she began to work the fingers of her broken hand. Nephenee smiled when she realized that she could move them without issue. She would have to keep the bandages on for a few more days, a week or two at the most, but it would be healed soon. Cracking her knuckles, Nephenee smiled and looked to the wolf, who opened a single eye to watch her.

"Thank you, wolf," Nephenee said.

The beast got up off of the pedestal and moved over to the side of the clearing, looking over its shoulder and indicating that Nephenee should follow. She did obediently. The wolf paused and started drawing rough uneven lines in the dirt with its claws. Nephenee glanced at the rough Hylian, trying to understand that characters that were as straggly as could be. Nephenee's written Hylian was pretty fuzzy as well, so it took her a while to figure out what the word said.

"Link," she said cautiously. She looked up at the wolf, who nodded at her. Nephenee tilted her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"

The wolf sat down and rolled its eyes before pointing a paw at itself.

Nephenee's eyes widened in understanding. "Your name is Link."

The wolf nodded, a hint of a smile on his lips, his blue eyes twinkling thoughtfully.

* * *

Colin entered the village carefully, making sure that his wounds were wrapped and weren't visual. The village seemed awfully quiet. Colin prepared for an attack or the worst, but then Ilia came out of her house, cleaning her hands with a dishtowel. She waved to Colin and gave a small sad smile, their everyday signal that all was forgiven.

Colin moved towards Ilia's house, and she propped the door open, allowing the sounds of a snoring Fado to reach Colin's ears. "Where is everyone?" Colin whispered, trying not to wake Ilia's husband.

"While you were gone, Beth came back from Castle Town with Malo," Ilia said carefully, the moonlight cascading down on her frame, leaving her face in the darkness. "You should have seen her, Colin. She's like a completely different person, all grown up and mature, nothing like the swooning girl that she was. She came back with new cloths and talk of a young man named Shad."

Colin smiled. "You remember Shad, don't you?"

Ilia nodded as she began rubbing her hands with the towel again. "How could I forget him? Shad's an odd young man for sure. But Beth might be good for him. She'll keep him grounded. She'll at least make him eat food once in a while."

Colin glanced over around the empty village, nothing but the moon and a few spare torches giving it light. "So where is she? I'm sure that the village wouldn't let themselves sleep while Beth talks about her adventures."

Waving the towel in the right direction, Ilia said, "Up by the ranch, near my father's house. It seems that the return of Beth needs a party. Be warned, Colin, I think there's been drinking."

Colin nodded, tying the strips of cloth around his wrists. Before Ilia could shut the door, Colin caught it. "Ilia, do me a favor. Stay in your house tonight. Don't come out for anything."

"What's going on, Colin?" The dark worry in her eyes reached Colin easily.

"I'm not sure yet."

* * *

". . . and then I found my way here. I do not understand the way that your language works, unfortunately. The people that I have happened upon, they use some odd version. I believe that it is called slang? In any case, I do not understand it. I am a fighter, and I sound like an uptight diplomat when I talk. Someone will have to teach me this slang. Of course, it cannot be you. You are a wolf."

Link nodded and made that odd laughing sound. He was wrapped in a tight ball next to her as the day drew on. She leaned against the rock face as she tested her hand. Link had brought her another bottle of potion yesterday, and her hand finally seemed to be recovered. She stretched it and cracked her knuckles. Link had poked and prodded it, making sure that the bones were set correctly. Nephenee had a minimal amount of medical knowledge, since she was mainly a warrior in the Gerudo society. That sort of information was left for the healers and the scholars. Nephenee knew how to set bones and stop blood loss, but that was about it.

Nephenee had spent three days in the Sacred Grove. Link helped her get food, bringing her back berries and some sort of leaves that seemed to be edible. Once, Nephenee had asked Link why he never brought back meat, since he was a wolf and all. Link just gave her a confused look, like he couldn't believe that she would ask that question.

She was discovering that Link was more like a human than a wolf. Other than that first time when Link growled at her when she touched the sword, he didn't seem to act like a wolf at all. At moments, he seemed feral, but most of the time he was intelligent and patient, watching Nephenee with his knowing eyes.

Somehow, Nephenee found herself telling the wolf about everything that she had gone through, about the Gerudo and how Nabooru was captured. When Nephenee got to the invasion of Hyrule, Link stiffened, but forcibly relaxed as she continued. Other than writing his name and a few other words in the dirt, Link didn't communicate with anything other than nods and expressions.

Currently, Link was huddled next to her, looking up at the fading sunlight as it passed through the trees. He listened carefully to her story.

Nephenee turned to Link. "You're a really good listener, did you know that? Maybe it's because you can't talk."

Link nodded and pulled his lips back into a smile.

Nephenee looked up at the fading sunlight. "I do not know what to do about my people. Although they have exiled me and are no longer standing for the Gerudo way of life, I want to return to them. Nabooru cannot hold out for much longer in a cell. I have to get back to her and help her, but at the same time, if I do return, if I do go back to my people, they will not hesitate to kill me. They would end my life before I even have a chance to look for Nabooru. I do not know what to do. But at the moment, it does not really matter because I cannot leave this clearing. The wall only opens for you."

Link got up and raked his claws through the dirt. As he did, the chain around his paw rattled. Slowly a word was formed. BLESSING.

"You have the blessing of the Sacred Grove to go where you please?" Nephenee asked.

Link nodded.

"That must be a gift given to few. Just you and the Skull Kid?"

The wolf nodded again.

Nephenee smiled again. She felt like she and Link had become friends, although Link couldn't talk and was a beast. They were close, although she didn't know a thing about him. Maybe that's why she was so open with her story about the Gerudo and how she lived in fear that her Oath-Sister would die or that she would be found and killed.

Suddenly, the Grove shook. Link automatically got to his feet and he turned to look to Nephenee, silently telling her to stay there. He ran straight through the wall, leaving Nephenee alone.

What was going on? Nephenee got to her feet. She had never felt more alone than she did at that moment, waiting for Link to come back and remind her that everything was okay. The world seemed darker at that moment, as if something ominous was coming. Instinctively, Nephenee grabbed her swords. She held them crossed across her body, moving towards the sword in the middle of the Grove carefully.

A tremor knocked her off her feet. The wall that had separated the clearing at the rest of the Grove was crumbling down, rocks and smoke covering the clearing. Nephenee coughed for a moment, but her golden eyes widened in fear. Out of the rubble came two women, holding scimitars identical to the ones that Nephenee was holding. They had the same tan skin and red hair, although their hair was cut short, falling just beneath their ears. One of the women had gold hoops cascading down from her ears. The other had a sharp profile and narrow eyes.

What caught Nephenee's eyes were the tattoos that were inked down their right arms. They were intricate, yet exactly the same. A mix of swirls and odd symbols, Nephenee knew what they were. Nabooru had one just like it. It was the tattoo of the Marked, how they got their name. Nephenee herself had a black tattooed star on her right shoulder, currently hidden by her shirt, which meant that she was a member of the Dark. It had been her dream that one day her black star would be erased for the swirls and symbols of the Marked.

The king had sent two of the twelve after her. Why? One deserter wasn't that important.

Nephenee strengthened her guard. She was still a Gerudo. She wouldn't lose to her sisters without a fight.

The woman to the right, slightly taller than the other, moved forward. "Well, look what we've found. If it isn't Nephenee, the deserter. Ishizu said that you would run like the scared little mouse that you are. She said that she was surprised that Nabooru didn't escape with you."

Nephenee gritted her teeth. "Why did you come here, Risen?"

The woman, named Risen, laughed. "Oh, you remembered my name. How sweet of you."

"How could I forget Ishizu's Hand? If I was called Nabooru's Hand, then that's what you were." Nephenee took another step back, edging closer and closer to the pedestal as the two of them came closer without a care in the world, their guards loose.

Risen barked a laugh. "Don't flatter yourself, Nephenee. Anyway, we didn't come here for you, although Ishizu will be pleased when we drag you back in chains. No. We're here for the blade."

Nephenee looked behind her at the sword. She immediately turned back to her sisters. "Why would you want to sword?" Nephenee asked in Gerudo. "You can't remove it from the stone anyway. I've tried."

Risen waved a hand, unconcerned. "Then we'll just take it with the stone. It doesn't matter much to us. The king wants it, and we are loyal to the king."

"The king is not one of the Gerudo," Nephenee said harshly, through gritted teeth.

There was a cut across her cheek. Nephenee reeled back when she saw that Risen had lunged towards her, giving her a second cut to go with the scar from the puppet that she had gotten three days ago. For all of Risen's talk, she was good. She had to be to become one of the Marked. After all, the tattoos of the Gerudo were not permanent. If the leaders of the clan thought that she wasn't good enough to be a member of the elite, that tattoo would be removed.

Nephenee was scared. Fear was a hard emotion for a Gerudo to accept, but she knew it for what it was. It was how she had felt when she had realized that Nabooru had been captured.

Risen laughed. "You may be one of the Dark, little girl, but you can't defeat the Marked. You can't even try."

Nephenee tightened her grip on her blades. "I have to. I will not sit here and let you kill me!"

Behind her, the other Gerudo tugged on the base of her ponytail, ripping out her red hair. Nephenee screamed but made sure that she kept her grip on her swords. Desperate, Nephenee elbowed the Marked in the stomach. As her hair was released, it fell in long strands across her face, her hair tie broken. She backed up once more and as she did, Nephenee hit the side of the pedestal, landing roughly as she fell, one of her swords clattering out of her hand. Nephenee scrabbled to find it, when she felt the cold tip of steel against her chin.

Risen's breath was warm against her ear. "This is your time for realization. You're human. You're mortal. And now, you're going to die."

"Why would you kill me? Because your king orders it?" Nephenee murmured, spitting the word "king" like it was a curse.

Risen laughed hollowly. "Yes. That's exactly why I'm going to kill you. We Gerudo are a loyal people to a fault. But you wouldn't understand that, would you? After all, you're not Gerudo." A bark of laughter. "At least, not anymore."

"And you're nothing but a pawn," Nephenee snapped defiantly.

Risen pushed her sword harder against Nephenee's throat, drawing blood. "In this position, you might what to watch what you say."

Nephenee swallowed dryly. For a flash, she wished that Link was here. That he was there and he could help her. But then she realized that he was only a wolf, and the two of them would gut him like a pig. He should at least survive.

"Any last words, youngling?"

Nephenee scowled. "I'm fifteen. My ranking day was a year past."

"So? You're still going to fall under the category of 'dying young.'" Risen barked a laugh while the other Gerudo giggled behind her.

"And you'll all realize that Nabooru was right." Nephenee said before she spit in Risen's eye.

Risen growled, but she was suddenly knocked over by a large dark shape.

"Link!" Nephenee exclaimed, her throat freed from Risen's blade. She placed a hand to her throat and it came back red.

The wolf growled and stepped between Nephenee and the other Gerudo. Link looked over his shoulder and Nephenee. Understanding, Nephenee scrabbled back away from the two of them, keeping a grip on her throat and trying to stop the bleeding. She didn't take her eyes off of Link. If he was going to fight, she was going to need to back him up.

Instead of leaping like Nephenee thought that he would, Link growled once before touching his paw to the side of the blade. There was a flash of light that seemed to come from the sword itself and a gust of sharp wind. Nephenee put her hands in front of her face to stop the wind, her eyes squinted. When she opened them, Link was no longer there.

Standing in his place was a man of around twenty years of age wearing an odd green outfit. The man was tall and well-built, clearly a fighter. He had dirty blond hair and clear blue eyes—Link's blue eyes. He was wearing a pointed hat on top of his head, the end of it just touching a blue metal shield adorned with the same triangular symbol that was on his blade. He was pale compared to Nephenee, but she supposed that he was decently tanned. His ears were pierced with the same blue earrings as the wolf.

The warrior stretched and cracked his knuckles underneath his gloves and his bracers. "Well, I must say it's been a while since I've been in this form."

Risen and the other Gerudo had fallen down due to the burst of wind. Risen got to her feet immediately. She spat out a phrase in Gerudo, but the warrior simply raised an eyebrow. Risen clenched her teeth before repeating the phrase in Hylian.

"Who are you?" the Marked spat.

The man whipped his shield off of his back and got into a stance, his eyes feral and dangerous, which made Nephenee glad that he was protecting her.

"My name is Link, but you can call me the Hero of Twilight."


	10. Ch 9: Battlefield: Ordon Village

**A/N: Thank you for all of your support. It means so much to me. In other news, I wanted to let everyone know that I will not be updating on the 25th of December. That's two weeks from now. I'll be out of town for the holidays, and well, it is Christmas. I will, however, be updating both next week and on New Year's Day. **

** This chapter gets a little violent so . . . here you go: **

**Warnings: moderate gore and peril. Just wanted to let you know.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign _

_Chapter Nine: Battlefield: Ordon Village_

A strange rumbling sound echoed throughout the village.

The villagers were gathered around the picnic tables and the pumpkin patches. Beth was at the head of the table, laughing and drinking copious amounts of cider. Sitting to her left was Ilia, who teased Beth about her sudden new romance with Shad. Pergie was fussing over Malo, who seemed to have hit the child version of puberty. Almost as tall as Talo was when he was eight, Malo seemed to be even more mature and disconcerting. Malo spoke to anyone who would listen—or anyone who came within three feet of the man-child—about the business going-ons in the Castle Town Branch of Malo Mart. Jaggle was standing behind Pergie, silently being proud of his son.

Sera and Hanch were on either side of Beth. Sera had a hand on Beth's shoulder and murmured about when she was going to get grandkids, which caused Beth to stutter and blush, saying that she and Shad weren't like that. Hanch trembled, whether in fear or joy, Colin would never know.

Colin leaned against the pillar of rock that jutted out of the creek. The vines brushed roughly against his shield and sword. He had warned Bo about the tracking marks that he had found in the woods, but, like always, his words were heeded. Colin knew that Bo and Rusl tried to believe Colin when he warned of a possible attack on the village, but who were they kidding? It was peacetime. That meant that things were peaceful.

It was like they had completely forgotten the way that the children had been stolen. Like they had forgotten of the odd blue and black portal above Ordon Spring that remained still. It was like they were blinded by the peace that they had finally achieved.

But Colin did remember. He remembered being strung up like some sort of trophy on King Bulbin's banner. He remembered the lives of innocents stripped away by the shadow creatures. He remembered that, and he knew that it could happen again if they weren't careful.

And if the anxious look on Ilia's face was any indicator, so was she. She kept fidgeting and looking over her shoulder. She remembered how quickly things could change.

After he had apologized for the childish ways that he had behaved, Colin had told Ilia about the tracking marks that he had found in the woods, along with the girl that he had seen in the dungeon. "Too sophisticated to be Bulbins," Colin had said, mainly just to reassure Ilia. Ilia nodded, and her hand moved to the dagger on her waist.

Ilia was peaceful by nature but being kidnapped and imprisoned changed a girl. She had learned more from Telma than just compassion. Her fighting skills weren't the greatest, but she could hold her own. While her hand-to-hand wasn't fabulous, knife-throwing seemed to be the Goddess' gift to Ilia. Back in the days when Talo had been learning how to use the bow while Colin learned the sword, Talo and Ilia would go head-to-head on the targets, arrows versus knives.

But Colin wasn't going to kid himself. The best that Ilia knew was self-defense, and wouldn't be any good against a skilled opponent. If it came to a fight, the only people who would be able to hold their own would be Talo, Bo, Rusl and himself. Against whatever size army came, those wouldn't be good odds.

Colin gave Ilia a small sad smile and waved before leaning against the vines once more.

Then the rumbling started.

Colin and Ilia noticed immediately, but the rest of villagers didn't catch on until the lantern that was on the table toppled over and blew out. Colin grabbed his sword and pulled it out of its sheath. He began shouting orders.

"Pergie, get Beth, Malo, Sera and my mother out of here! Don't just stand there, do it! Anyone who's able to fight, to me!" Colin looked over at Talo and smiled, clapping him on the shoulder. Talo looked to Colin with scared yet determined eyes. "Talo?"

The fear left Talo's eyes and determination filled them. "Yes, Colin?"

"You might want to get your bow. We're going to need your arrows."

Talo nodded and ran to his house. The teenager didn't pause as he sprinted over the bridge and past the pumpkin patches. Behind him, Ilia started lighting the lanterns. If they were going to fight, they were going to need to see. Rusl approached the two of them with his sword. Colin turned to his father.

"What do you think that we should do, Dad?"

Rusl shook his head. "Colin, I know swordplay. I know little about war and battles and things like that. You know more than me. I was a part of the resistance because I felt like I could make a difference without becoming a soldier. We didn't actually fight. Shad and Auru can't fight at all."

Colin grimaced. "I guess you're right."

Rusl clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, son. If anyone can handle this, you can."

Colin sighed and pulled his shield off of his back. The rumbling got stronger. It wasn't as bad as King Bulbin's hoard, which made Colin think that there wasn't too many of them. An advance force, maybe. A smaller amount of soldiers. After all, they wouldn't need an army to wipe out Ordon Village. They wouldn't even need more than twenty soldiers. It was small but Ordon Village wasn't made for defense. If only they had powerful fighters.

Colin looked to his left to see Captain Falnoff get Ilku and Jeoffry out of their tents and yelling at them to get their weapons. Well, at least they had three skilled fighters. Falnoff, Rusl and Colin. Talo would be an asset, as Link had taught him a decent amount of hand-to-hand while teaching him the way of the bow, and his arrows would be priceless.

Bursting through the gate, around two dozen soldiers came through. The first things that Colin registered was that that they were all woman, wielding curved blades. The second thing he noticed was that they were all wearing the same clothes as the girl that he found and saved inside the Forest Temple. Was she apart of this invading force? Had he saved her life for her to only take his? A few of the woman were on horses.

"Talo!" Colin shouted up to the archer, who was taking his place on top of the pillar of rock. "Get them off of the horses! Top priority!"

"Gotcha!"

Colin grabbed his sword and his shield. He slammed the face of his shield into a woman's chin and reeled back with a sword strike. The woman wiped her nose, which was now flowing blood. She growled and spat out a phrase in a language that Colin didn't recognize. Colin rolled his eyes and fought again. Another warrior swiped at his back and he dodged just in the nick of time. But he lost his focus with the other woman and she ripped his blades free of their deadlock. She rammed her blades against his shield and Colin felt his back hit the vines of the rock pillar. This was not looking good.

Why were they here? Why were they attacking? And most importantly, what did they want?

Ilia came up behind the warrior deadlocked with Colin and silently pulled her dagger out of her belt. Colin's eyes widened and he tried to tell her silently to get away, but Ilia tightened her grip on the dagger and closed her eyes fiercely before shoving the blade into the warrior's heart.

The woman fell to the ground, but Ilia kept a firm grip on her dagger. She looked at her hands in shock, the blood seeping through her fingers, the soiled blade in her hands. Her eyes were wide with fear and some other unknown emotion that Colin couldn't recognize.

Another one of the enemies came up behind Ilia. Colin ran and rammed his wooden shield against their shoulder. Colin heard the gruesome, and oddly satisfying, crack of bone from the impact. Switching his grip to a backhand, Colin shoved his blade through the warrior's thigh. She let out a shriek and crumpled to the ground. He ripped his sword out and stabbed it through her gut. Blood trickled out of her mouth, but she didn't scream anymore.

For a moment, Colin contemplated what he had just done. He had just ended another person's life. He had just killed someone. That woman would never see tomorrow . . . because of him.

But when he heard another clash of steel on steel, he realized that it didn't matter. It was terrible, it was horrible, and he never wanted to do it again, but the safety of his friends and family came first. The woman—no, the warriors—Colin could see the killing intent in their eyes. They would kill them. All of them. And Colin just couldn't stand by and let that happen. He wouldn't allow it.

Another woman charged towards Ilia, who was still staring at the blood on her hands like she was possessed. This woman was different from the rest of them—she held herself with poise and grace, and had a long, dark, spiraled tattoo down the side of her arm. The bottom half of her face was covered with a piece of see through cloth and her violent red hair was up in a ponytail reaching close to her lower back.

When Colin recognized that Ilia wouldn't move, he shoved her out of the way and caught the warrior's curved swords on his own. "Ilia!" Colin ground out between clenched teeth while deadlocked with the woman. "I understand that it's horrible and you can't believe that you just ended another person's life, but you need to snap out of it! They're going to end ours if you don't get back in the game!"

Colin shoved the warrior's blades off and elbowed her in the mouth before moving back a step and maintaining his stance. Behind him, he heard the crinkling of vines, which told Colin that Ilia was moving. As she moved away from Colin, he heard a slight "sorry" and the brush of her fingers against his back before Ilia moved away to join the fight once again, rushing to Fado's side. Apparently the life of her husband got her motivated enough to kill.

The woman he was fighting spat out blood and wiped her mouth. She smiled wirily. As she spoke, her accent was coarse but her words were even and less formal than the girl that he had met in the dungeon. She probably understood the language better than the other.

"You're strong, boy," she said. "And you have heart. If you were female, I would have made you one of the elite in the sisterhood."

Colin tightened his grip on his sword. "Does that mean that you're the leader? Why are you attacking our village?"

The woman barked out a short laugh. "I wish that I was the leader. But no, that falls to my craven _king_." She spat the word out of her mouth with more blood. "But we are the Gerudo, and we follow orders, even if they are given by an incompetent man."

"Is that why you're attacking us?" Colin demanded. "We're a peaceful village. We haven't done anything to anyone. We're not even a part of Hyrule!"

"I wish that I wasn't a part of this, boy," the woman said, "and I wish that you weren't either. But I have a job to do. Even if it is just for the time being."

After those lines, talking was cut short by the blade of his adversary. Colin leaped back and engaged a new combatant in battle. When he looked over his shoulder during a spare moment to find that tattooed warrior who seemed diplomatic with him, she was gone, in a different part of the battle.

Arrows fell like they were rain from Talo's post on top of the rock. Each shot was calculated and precise. Talo even had his extra quiver next to him just in case he ran out of arrows. Talo was the one advantage that they had in this fight, Colin knew. Among the warriors in the attacking force, there was not a single archer among them. As Colin's back brushed the vines that accompanied the rock that Talo was sitting on, he knew that Talo couldn't be lost.

"Talo! You okay?" Colin shouted up as he stabbed one of the attackers in the heart and kicked the corpse in the gut to remove it from his blade.

"I'm almost out of arrows, Colin!" Talo shouted down as he knocked another on his bowstring. He exhaled and let it fly. Colin heard Talo's soft curse as he realized he had only impaled a leg, rather than a fatal wound.

"Keep going! Do you have your extra quiver?" Colin asked as he slammed his shield into someone's gut. He decided that if he didn't recognize Ordon or Hylian garb, they were his enemies.

"What do you think I'm almost out of?"

Colin gritted his teeth. He looked across the village to see his father on the steps of their home, locked in a battle with one of the warriors, this one with a black star tattooed on her arm. Colin could hear Kana crying inside the house. Bo was taking on two of the warriors with help from Fado, who was no fighter. He brandished a pitchfork like it was the deadliest of weapons. Ilia was a few steps behind them, fighting with the tattooed woman that Colin had fought before. In the middle of the village, near the stream, the three soldiers were making their stand. Falnoff fought fiercely, his sword a deadly arch through the air. There were a few corpses of the attackers around, mainly surrounding Colin and Falnoff. They were the best fighters in the village but the rest of them weren't warriors. Colin could only pray that the villagers wouldn't join the dead.

A scream pierced the air.

Colin immediately turned to the noise. Beth was being dragged out of her house by her hair, Sera screaming behind her. Hanch was spread-eagle on the ground. It was unknown if he was dead or just wounded. Either way, there was blood, and lots of it. Colin bolted away from the rock.

"Talo! Take care of yourself for the moment!"

"Got it!" the archer shouted back as he reached back to his quiver, only to grasp at air. Ripping a dagger out of his belt, Talo jumped down and joined the fray.

The warrior holding Beth had the same tattoo as the woman Colin had spoken to, but it wasn't her. This woman had shorter hair that barely touched her shoulders as well as crueler eyes. She was taller and didn't wear the cloth on the lower part of her face, so nothing hid her dark smirk. The woman pulled harder at the Beth's hair, and she let out another shriek.

"Please! She's never done anything! Let my daughter go! She's innocent! Please! Please, not my daughter! Take me, just not my daughter!" Sera pleaded in rising tones. Her eyes were thick with tears as she looked at the frightened form of her daughter and the bleeding body of her husband.

"Your daughter will make a good addition to the Gerudo," the woman said with a smirk and another tug on her hair. "Although she will have to toughen up first."

Beth screamed once more before Colin's blade nicked the warrior's cheek. Reeling back, the woman released Beth, who ran back to her mother and held a hand to her bleeding scalp. They cried in each other's arms, and Colin saw Sera give a tearful glance back to Hanch before shutting the door tightly.

The warrior touched a hand to her cheek and bared her teeth when it came back red with blood. "You will pay for that, child," the woman said coldly. "I am Ishizu, the leader of the Marked, the elite."

Colin twirled his sword in his hand. "My name's Colin, the second protector of the village."

"Your death will please my king," Ishizu said as the blood on her tanned cheek began to flow once more.

"Just try it!" Colin snarled. Ishizu lunged. He caught one of her curved blades on his shield, but had to flip backward to avoid the second.

As they fought, Colin found out that she wasn't kidding when she said that she was elite. She fought well, probably as well as himself—maybe better. Not at Link's level, but then again, no one was. She had power behind her attacks, which didn't compliment Colin's style of stabbing and evading. When he caught her blades on his shield, he had to brace his arm for the blow.

Colin tried to sweep her feet, but Ishizu darted out of the way. Colin gritted his teeth as he caught her blade on his wooden shield. A nick appeared on the surface of the wood. _Not good, _Colin thought as he reeled back.

"COLIN!"

The swordsman immediately turned to the cry of his name. As he looked around, trying to find the source, there was a cruel kick to his stomach. Colin rolled back and coughed, the wind knocked out of his lungs. Instead of looking back to Ishizu, he turned towards the voice that had called his name.

Ilia was being dragged away, by the same Marked woman that he had talked to earlier. He could tell that she was trying not to hurt Ilia, despite all of her struggling. The woman kept telling Ilia to keep still and not to hurt herself. By the way that Ilia was moving, Colin could assume that her left arm was sprained—perhaps broken.

The woman closed her eyes and grimaced, a look of intense pain coming over her face. She pulled out a cloth and shoved it over Ilia's mouth. Ilia's eyes rolled back and she fell unconscious. The woman hoisted the unconscious girl over her shoulder gently, trying not to harm Ilia's arm.

Knowing that Colin was watching her, she glanced back to him. With a look of sorrow, she mouthed two words that Colin caught clearly.

"I'm sorry."

With that, she left Ordon Village behind, taking Ilia with her. Colin's eyes widened in horror.

No. No. This couldn't be happening. Ilia couldn't be gone. Not again. She had already been lost once. She wouldn't be gone again. And if Link wasn't here, then he would be the one who would have to save her.

Sheathing his sword and shield, Colin got up off of the floor and ran towards the entrance to Ordon Village. He wouldn't allow Ilia to be taken. Not this time. She wouldn't be taken again! Colin wouldn't allow anyone in Ordon Village to go through that feeling of loss again!

As Colin sprinted away, he suddenly got a feeling of danger. Turning swiftly, Colin had just enough time to pull his shield off of his back to catch Ishizu's curved blades. The shield creaked under the weight. Colin reeled back, unsheathing his sword with his other hand.

"What do you think you are doing, boy?" Ishizu spat. "You never turn your back on an opponent! Especially not me!"

Colin gritted his teeth. He had no time for this! He had to save her! As Colin engaged in a second battle of blades, he realized that it was hopeless. He had to concentrate on saving his own life from this ferocious woman. He couldn't save her. He couldn't save anyone.

_Ilia . . ._

* * *

Nephenee felt like, by blinking, she had missed something important. She could recall seeing Link defeat both of the Marked, but it didn't seem to register in her mind. Link placed his blade inside the leather sheath on his back and put his shield on top of it. Looking down on the corpses with a bitter smile, Link turned away and held a hand out to Nephenee, who took it carefully.

Nephenee got to her feet, but kept a hand on her throat, which was still bleeding from the cut that Risen had inflicted. Link pulled her hand away softly while taking out bandages and medicine from his pouch. Nephenee prevented herself from swallowing while Link wrapped her wound carefully, his long, rough fingers gentle on her throat. When he had tied a soft knot and removed his hands from her throat, Nephenee looked at him with a rough expression.

"You are truly Link? The wolf that I came to consider my friend?" she asked with suspicion.

"Yes," the man said. "I'm Link. The wolf is my second form, but I remain the same through it all."

"Why did you not change before?" Nephenee demanded, sheathing her blades.

Link smiled softly, his weathered face curving into something less harsh, more friendly. "Old habit. I used to have a . . . friend . . . who would always remind me that I couldn't change in front of other humans. After all, I'm one of a kind."

Nephenee nodded, but there was a determined look in her eyes. "I have questions," she stated. "And you will not avoid them forever."

"I don't doubt that. But for now. . ." Link paused before he began to whistle a tune. It took Nephenee a moment to realize that he was whistling the same tune that Skull Kid played on his odd instrument.

Leaves swirled around open air and suddenly Skull Kid was floating there, his instrument in his lap and his leafy hat falling into his glowing red eyes. Skull Kid smiled his toothy black smile when he saw Link was there with Nephenee.

"It's odd for you to call me, Link," the demon said with laughter in his voice.

"Skull Kid, I'm leaving for a while. I'm not sure how long it will take for me to come back. Before I'm leave, I'm going to lock the grove down. No one will be able to come in. At the same time, you won't be able to leave. It's for your protection. I'm not sure who will come looking for the blade next." Link used his hands while he spoke, like he couldn't bear to be still, but his face showed little emotion.

Skull Kid nodded. "That's okay. But you have to promise to come back someday, okay? It gets lonely here by myself." Skull Kid's blackened face didn't show feelings, but Nephenee could tell by the demon's mournful tone. How long had he been here, alone, waiting for someone to play with him?

"Oh, and Skull Kid, I was wondering if you could do a favor for me," Link continued.

Skull Kid lowered himself to the ground and touched his feet down lightly on the grass. "What do you need Link?"

Link pointed a finger over his shoulder to where the two corpses of the Marked lay. "I need you to bury them. I want them to have a proper grave."

Skull Kid nodded and called some his puppets to him. When he was about to approach the bodies, Nephenee cried "No!"

Link looked back at her curiously.

Nephenee sighed. "Burying the dead is a deep dishonor for the Gerudo," Nephenee said softly. "They need to be cremated, so that their souls will return to the Goddesses. I did not like them, but they do not deserve to be denied a proper Gerudo burial by fire. Only those who have committed the highest of sins will be buried in the ground." Nephenee winced when she realized that if she ever died by the hands of her sisters, she would be buried because of her treason.

Link nodded. "It's your call. Skull Kid, do what she says."

The little demon nodded and, instead of digging a hole in the ground, the puppets simply carried the bodies in their hands. Link watched them as they carried the women's bodies out of the clearing. Nephenee was about to say something when Link held out a hand.

A bird dropped from the one of the trees and landed gracefully on Link's shoulder. It sang a sweet song in his ear before Link nodded and it flew off again.

"Ordon Village is under attack." Link looked back towards Nephenee. "By your people, I believe. I won't ask you to come with me, but I can get you out of this grove."

Nephenee shook her head. "No, I will come with you. I . . . always met to go back to them, I think. Even if it is as a traitor. I have Gerudo pride. Besides, I assume that it is your village that is under attack. Nabooru would want me to fight for what is right. And I will not allow innocents to be slaughtered. In any case, we are friends, are we not?"

Link smiled. "Yes. We're friends."

Suddenly, the smile was wiped off of Link's face as he heard another bird call in the woods. His eyes widened.

"We have to leave."

Link started running through the grove at a fierce pace. Nephenee struggled to keep up. When she finally did reach his side, she asked carefully, "What has happened?"

"I wish that I knew details, Nephenee," Link said, not even winded. "All I know is that if I don't get there soon, there might not be an Ordon Village left anymore."


	11. Ch 10: The Return

**A/N: As a reminder to everyone who follows me, I will not be updating next week, the 25th of December because I'll be out of town for the holidays. So, my next update will be on New Year's Day. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter. This chapter is dedicated to the fanfic of the same name by **_Rose Zemlya_**. It was one of the first Zelda fanfics that I had read, and remains one of the best. In other news, I am now officially a beta. If you want me to beta your story, just PM me. **

**Warning: continued moderate gore, peril and death.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Ten: The Return _

Nephenee ran behind Link as he went through the grove. He never stumbled and never looked any direction other than forward. It was obvious that he knew the grove like the back of his hand. As soon as the two of them passed through a tunnel, Link would touch the side of it carefully. When Nephenee made her way through, a wall would solidify behind her.

That was what he meant when Link said that he would shut down the Sacred Grove.

Eventually Link stopped, and Nephenee had to catch her breath. She didn't think that she was out of shape, considering that she had been running for her life the past few weeks, but Nephenee supposed that compared to guy who seemed to spend half his life as a wild beast, she was moving at a snail's pace.

Nephenee was still trying to wrap her head around that concept. She had seen some odd things when she was a member of the Dark, especially when they would go monster-hunting. She had seen some odd things while she had been on the run from her sisters as well. But having a man change back and forth from a beast was something that she couldn't truly understand. There had to be a reason for it, right? She didn't understand. Nephenee didn't like it when she couldn't understand something. She had dealt with far too much of that these last few days.

Link paused. "We're moving too slow," he murmured.

"Sorry," Nephenee panted from behind him, her hands on her thighs as she was doubled over, trying to catch her breath.

"No, it's not your fault," Link reassured her. "But we need to move faster. Get on my back, okay?"

Nephenee was about to point out that him giving her a piggyback ride was not going to increase the speed of their trip when Link pulled out a necklace from underneath his clothes. It was a string of corded leather with a wrapped pendant in the middle of it. Link removed the paper from the outside of it with his gloved fingers. Underneath was a blade-shaped pendant with glowing red-orange markings. Nephenee had never seen anything like it.

"What is that?" she asked carefully.

"It's a shard of Twilight," Link said slowly. "I don't expect you to understand that right now. I'll explain everything about that later. For the moment, just remember that you should never touch it. You'll turn into a spirit if it has contact with your bare skin."

Nephenee gulped, but nodded.

Link touched the shard of Twilight to his neck. Particles of darkness seemed to be pulled from the air and they wrapped around Link, encasing him in a dark aura for a moment. When it faded, there was the wolf that Nephenee had come to befriend, with the chain on its ankle and all. Link turned back and gave her a knowing look.

Nephenee got on his back carefully, trying not to do anything wrong or hurt him. Link looked over his shoulder and rolled his eyes, an exaggerated gesture that he was only doing to get his point across without words. Nephenee grasped onto Link's neck and breathed in fur.

Link laughed at her, and she could feel the vibrations of his sides. He looked back at her once more to make sure that she was holding tightly, but then he was off, running like the wind.

* * *

In Ordon Village, Colin was considered a strong, soft-spoken boy who would help you when you were sick and harvest your pumpkins for free if you needed it. He was a gentlemanly fellow, a good boy who would give smiles easily. He was consistently kind to women and children.

Strangely, none of that stopped him when he punched Ishizu in the face.

Ishizu stumbled from the boy. She touched her cheek in shock, and growled when her fingers came back with blood. "You will pay for that, boy," she hissed between clenched teeth.

"You're lucky that it wasn't the shield," Colin said coldly but he knew that the woman would make good on her threat. She was cruel and definitely wouldn't have a problem pushing him off of a cliff. Or, in this case, onto a blade.

Despite their conversation, both were breathing heavy. Although their match seemed even, Colin knew that out of the two of them, he was worse for wear. He had a deep cut on the arm that had once held his shield, which had been thrown from his arm earlier in the fight. If Ishizu's goal was to prevent him from following Ilia and that other Gerudo, then she was going to do him one better and just kill him.

For the first time in almost three years, Colin was afraid for his life.

Colin was desperate. Ilia was probably long gone by now and he would have a hard time catching up to them without a horse, but every minute that he wasted fighting with Ishizu was one more minute that Ilia moved further and further away. And Colin wouldn't let Ilia get away again. The last time that Ilia had been taken, Colin had been powerless, at the mercy of King Bulbin and his heavy club. They were separated, and all of the children, Colin included, depended on Link to fight their battles while they stayed scared inside.

But things were different. Colin had become strong. He had learned how to fight. He had the power to protect other people. But there was the sickening sensation in his gut that told him, that if Ilia was taken again, it would simply be confirmation of what he already knew: that nothing had changed. He was still just as powerless as before. As he looked down on the carnage and that blood that surrounded the village, he felt helpless.

And he used those feeling to make him stronger.

When Colin saw an opening, he took it. So when he noticed a break in Ishizu's guard, he didn't hesitate to kick her in the side. Ishizu fell heavy to the ground. He had hit her in a very bad spot. If he was lucky, he had broken a couple of ribs at the very least. No matter what, Ishizu had the breath knocked out of her, which gave Colin just enough time to break out of her range and head to the entrance of the village.

He was going to get Ilia back.

Colin sprinted towards the narrow path that led up to Link's home, and then on towards Faron. But before he had even got up the pathway, Colin had to move out of the way of a dark horse that galloped its way down the path. Colin gripped his sword.

The horse was pure black and taller than Epona. It had pure red eyes, like a Bulbin or a demon. Colin took a step back. The animal seemed angry and powerful. On its back was a dark, hooded man. His cloak was black with odd gold symbols. He saw the Triforce occasionally inside the mess of patterns. Whoever it was, he was a large man. Although Colin could not see his face, he had the sickening sensation that the man was watching him.

It would have been so easy for Colin to pull his sword out of his sheath and attack the man. But something glued his hands and feet still. He wondered if this was what Beth had felt when King Bulbin had burst through the gates of Kakariko Village. But he wasn't some frightened little girl. He was a warrior! He should be able to move! Move, goddammit!

Ishizu came up to the hooded man and knelt before him. She sent a glance towards Colin, who took a step backwards under his own willpower. She smirked once before turning to face the man once again. "What do you order, my king?"

The king glanced at Colin again and, although Colin couldn't see the man's face, he knew that the horseman was giving him a wicked smile. Colin took another step back, moving away from the man.

The stranger turned back to Ishizu.

"We have what we came for. Burn it all to the ground."

* * *

Nephenee got off of Link's back.

They were on a closed path next to a spring. They had passed by one other source of water on their way here. As they did, Nephenee could have sworn that she saw a woman with flowing blue hair and gossamer wings humming a tune on one of the rocks. But when she looked back, Link had already ran past, her view obstructed by the trees and the cliffs. The branches hung low as Link ran by. He crossed through a narrow path between two cliffs and a rope bridge that reminded Nephenee that she was afraid of both water and heights. Inside the clearing was a house situated above them on an outcropping of rock along with a few scarecrows and targets dispersed among the trees.

When she turned back around, Link had removed the shard of Twilight from his neck and had been transformed back into a human. Nephenee glanced back at the now-human Link, who was wrapping the shard in paper once more before putting it underneath his green tunic again.

"I thought that you had to touch the blade to return to your human form," Nephenee mused while she watched him.

Link patted the front of his tunic, making sure that the shard wasn't noticeable. "It's pretty complicated. I can forcibly return to my human form by touching the Master Sword, but usually I just take the shard on and off to switch between to two. If the shard of Twilight isn't physically touching my skin, the Realm of Light turns me back naturally. Of course, sometimes there's . . . difficult circumstances."

"What do you mean?"

Instead of answering, Link grabbed his sword and pulled it out of its sheath. He looked over his shoulder to Nephenee. He paused for a moment before turning his ear to the sounds of the forest. "We need to get a move on. We don't have much time."

Nephenee moved towards the main entrance, but Link caught her shoulder. He shook his head. "We don't know what we're getting into. I'll show you a less obvious path." Link gestured for her to follow with a gloved hand. He hoisted himself to the top of one of the cliffs around the clearing with surprising strength. He reached a hand out to Nephenee and pulled her up next to me.

"Follow close behind me. Tell me about your people." The statements were orders, but they were said with a quiet sincere tone. Link pulled tree branches out of Nephenee's way as they walked without looking at them. It was like it was an instinct for him.

Nephenee hesitated for a moment, then sighed and began to speak. "Well, there are no archers among the Gerudo. We consider long range weaponry to be cowardice. It's not truly fighting unless it's hand to hand. Some of them are horsewomen. The dangerous Gerudo are the ones that have tattoos on their arms."

Link didn't look back as he pointed to her own arm. "Like the one that you have?"

Nephenee nodded. "Having a tattoo in the Gerudo is a position of true honor. You only receive one if you are a member of the Marked or the Dark, the two highest ranks of the Gerudo. The members of the Dark have the black star that I also carry. There is many more of the Dark than there is of the Marked. The Marked consist of only twelve, two of which have already been killed." Nephenee searched for some sort of reaction from Link, but his face remained impassive, although Nephenee did see the slight twitch that accompanied her words. "They have spiraling tattoos down their right arms. They are the most dangerous people in the Gerudo, and they answer directly to the king." The girl paused for a moment. "Nabooru used to be one of them."

Link nodded. Nephenee was about to speak again, to give the wolf-man more information, when Link's soft voice cut across hers. "I couldn't tell you this as a wolf, but I understand what it feels like to lose a companion, a sister-in-arms. You just have to recognize that she made her own choice and that she's determined in her decision. You have to know that nothing you would have said could have stopped her."

For a moment, the only sound was Link bending back the branches as they moved closer to the village, Link picking up the pace.

"Who was she?" Nephenee asked suddenly.

Link looked away from Nephenee and went back to pushing the branches and listening the birds in the forest. Nephenee sighed, having known that he wouldn't give her an answer, just as Link spoke again.

"Her name was Midna."

* * *

They ran for a few more minutes in silence before Link put out a hand to stop Nephenee. The sounds of battle, of blood and pain and steel-on-steel, were close now. Almost to close. They were on the cusp of the battle.

"Around ten feet in front of you there's a sudden drop off that leads to the southern half of Ordon Village. I can't ask you to go any further, Nephenee. Those are your people. I can't tear you away from them. This isn't your fight."

"They tried to kill me. I owe them one." Nephenee cracked her knuckles and prayed that her voice didn't shake. She was a Gerudo. She was strong.

Link nodded. He could tell that she was struggling and he awkwardly placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to give some semblance of comfort.

Link gestured for her to follow him. He jumped down off of the cliff, Nephenee landing softly behind him.

The village of Ordon lay before them. There was fighting in nearly every corner of the village. Nephenee saw her old friends and her hated enemies spread out through the villagers of Ordon, who look worse for wear. There were corpses strewn around, most Gerudo, but Nephenee saw some bodies cloaked in odd patterned cloths that she assumed were the villagers. The northern parts were particularly bad. There were only four or five of the villagers left standing, along with two soldiers in Hylian guard. Nephenee saw another on the ground next to a small hut, his head separated from his body. Nephenee clenched her teeth. The Gerudo were a hard, honest race and they knew how to kill.

They had landed just behind a hut, in a pumpkin patch that was more dirt than pumpkin. A pile of wood was leaning against the house. The dirt near the edge of the foundation was loose and free, like it had been dug into lately. Link leaned against the wall of the house and looked out at the battle.

Just in front of them, one of the Gerudo—Nephenee remembered her face. Her name was Hina. She was a member of the Resistance for a short time. Timid girl. She didn't adapt that well to the Gerudo lifestyle of swords before words and saying what you thought. After everything had ended, she was the one who had told Nephenee that Nabooru had been captured. She was honest, pure, everything that Nephenee wasn't. Nephenee had admired Hina for that. Now she was here, standing over the body of a Hylian soldier, her blades shaking in her hands.

The death wasn't the thing that bothered Nephenee. It was the fact that she _knew_ her. She _knew _Hina. She and Hina had been friends for a long time. Did she honestly believe that she could fight her sisters? Risen and Ishizu was one thing—they hated each other and threatened impalement on each other's sword more than once—but these were the people she had fought with and laughed with. These people had sat with her around the fire on cold desert nights swapping stories about Spirit Temple and the Old Legends, when a Sage of Spirit had saved the world with the help of a Hero.

Over there was Claudia. And there was Stellar—she had gotten taller and cut her hair. She knew these people. They were once her family.

Link had moved away from her side, so she had no source of comfort. He moved through the village swiftly. Nephenee watched him carefully. He was silent in his doings. He approached one of the Gerudo—her name was Ling, she was one of the Dark with Nephenee—and a Hylian soldier who were deadlocked. Ling pushed the soldier off of her blades and slashed him harshly across the arm. The soldier fell back, his knuckles white on his broadsword. She aimed a kick towards his stomach, and while the soldier was able to dodge, he fell over due to a level difference in the terrain. Ling moved towards the man.

Instead of allowing the fight to continue, Link moved through the battle and swept Lin's feet, causing the girl's head to hit the ground hard. However, she was still conscious, so she knew exactly what was happening when Link drove his sword through her heart.

Nephenee placed a hand to her mouth. Link was right. He had tried to warn her. She shouldn't have come. These were her family, and she was going to watch them kill or be killed. She knew that what the Gerudo were doing was wrong. But she felt sick to her stomach all the same.

Link turned to the soldier. "I don't recognize you," he said carefully while the man pulled himself up off of the ground.

"The feeling is mutual," the soldier said carefully. "Whose side are you on?"

Instead of answering, Link growled coldly. "Where are the rest of the villagers?" Link paused for a moment as he glanced around the village. Nephenee saw his eyes get a couple shades of blue darker. Nephenee's own golden eyes widened at his ferocity. "Where's Ilia?"

The soldier shook his head. "I'm not sure. I lost track of everything in the battle. She should still be fighting."

Link squeezed his eyes shut before grabbing his shield again and moving back into the fray.

There was the cry of a boy. "LINK!?"

Nephenee saw a brown-haired teenager who had a soiled dagger in his hand and an empty quiver on his back shout out from the top of a rock while he grappled with one of the younger Gerudo. Link didn't respond as he moved away from the situation. He headed towards the entrance, where a hooded horseman was conversing.

Nephenee clenched her teeth. The king. Of course he had showed up to watch the death on an innocent village. Nephenee ripped her blades out of their sheaths and reminded herself that she had a job to do. That was the man who took Nabooru away from her. That was the man who had stolen everything from her. Even her pride.

As Nephenee moved out from behind the hut, she had to narrowly dance out of the way of an incoming scimitar. She looked up to see Claudia holding her blades like she was going to kill her. Claudia. Claudia, her partner in the Dark. The one that said that she would always have Nephenee's back during one of their missions.

Nephenee took a step back. "Claudia! It's me, Nephenee! Your friend! Your partner!" she cried out in Gerudo.

Claudia moved her sword back and bent her elbow. "I know it's you. The king . . . the king wants you dead. We're . . . we're all under orders this time."

"But you were a member of the Resistance! You were a part of those who oppose the king!"

"And what?" Claudia spat. "Do you think that everything was sunshine and desert lilies after you left and Nabooru was imprisoned? We had to pay for our crimes in blood! We were all flogged! My . . ." her voice cracked and she turned away. She whipped around suddenly and glared at Nephenee with glazed golden eyes. "My Oath-Sister died from her wounds! She _died_, Nephenee! What do you think will come from the Resistance? Only more death! We are a loyal people, Nephenee! What were you and Nabooru thinking, opposing the king?"

"Claudia . . ." Nephenee reached out a hand to her sister's shoulder.

Claudia turned around roughly. Her eyes were wild and her grip on her blades had her tan knuckles turn pale. "No! Don't say anything about that! The Resistance is through! We can't do this anymore, Nephenee! Defying the king is equivalent to death these days! You and others may still believe, but you're running a fool's errand! Why do you even try?"

"Because our power should not be used to kill the innocent," Nephenee said darkly.

Claudia shed a tear before she charged Nephenee with her blades. Nephenee dodged and as Claudia ran past her, Nephenee kneed her in the stomach. Claudia coughed and fell to the ground. Nephenee sheathed her blades and looked back to the girl, who was now crying helplessly on the ground, curling her fingers until the dirt of the riverbank and mingling her bloodied fingers with dust. Nephenee shook her head and walked away.

"Leaving your enemy alive is not the way of the Gerudo!" Claudia shrieked behind her. "Nephenee!"

Nephenee turned around and shoved her blade into the ground right next to Claudia's head, sheering off some of the trademark red Gerudo hair. "You're lucky that I left you alive, Claudia, and that was sentiment only." Claudia's eyes were wide at Nephenee's cold tone. Nephenee pulled her sword out of the damp riverbank and gave Claudia a bitter smile. "And as I've been reminded all too often over the past few hours, I'm no longer one of the Gerudo."

Nephenee turned her back on her once-partner and tried not to cry.

She moved her way through the battles, sprinting behind Link until she came up behind him. He glanced back at her, his cerulean eyes showing surprise.

"I thought that you wouldn't follow me."

Nephenee glanced back at Claudia, who had her head in her hands and her blades by her feet. "I am unsure whether or not these truly are my people anymore." She pointed at the horseman directly in front of them. "That is our king, the one that I told you about. I never thought that he would take to the field himself."

"Apparently there's something important here," Link said carefully as he ripped his shield off of his back.

In front of the black-robed king knelt Ishizu. Her red hair tickled just below her ears, which were adorned by large hoops. Unpractical for battle, but Ishizu was always one for showing off. When she wasn't torturing her victims to death of course. On the other side of the horseman was one of the Ordon villagers, wielding a sword in one hand. He wore black pants and a light shirt, a red scarf wrapped around his neck. Nephenee's eyes widened.

She recognized the man. He was the one who had saved her from the Skulltulas in the Temple. He was the man to whom she owed a life debt.

He seemed to be regaining his willpower. Nabooru had told her once that the king had the ability to freeze you in your tracks simply because of the fear that he radiated. The man shook his head and pulled his muscles back into a fighting stance. Ishizu scoffed and got up from her crouched position, turning to the man roughly.

"You dare defy the king, foolish child!" Ishizu spat in Hylian. Nephenee winced. Her accent was terrible, but Ishizu was never much of a scholar.

The man who had saved her was roughed up, most likely by Ishizu herself. His arm was riddled with small, ragged cuts, all of them swallow but still bleeding. There was a shield strewn across the ground, and Nephenee assumed that it was his. He turned to face Ishizu wearily, raising his sword to protect himself.

Instead of allowing their blows to connect, Nephenee jumped in between them, ignoring the warning from Link, who at that point had moved to the side, watching the king very closely. Ishizu reeled back in shock before laughing at Nephenee.

"You!" she said in Gerudo. "You think that you can challenge me? Please! You're a weakling, Nephenee!"

"Maybe so," Nephenee ground out. "But I owe him a life debt."

She glanced over her shoulder, looking at the man who watched her in a mix of awe and suspicion. He raised a blond eyebrow at her.

"You're the girl that I saved in the dungeon," he said slowly.

Nephenee nodded. "I owe you for that. As well, I believe that we share a mutual friend." When the man looked confused, Nephenee gestured behind him, to where Link was approaching while the king got off his pure black demon steed.

"LINK?!" the man gasped, looking over his shoulder with shock etched on his face. Nephenee sheathed her sword before snapping her tanned, rough fingers in front of his face.

"Focus. We have more pressing matters in the form of an angry Marked that wishes to kill us," she said carefully before pulling out her sword once again and giving Ishizu her best glare, trying not to look afraid. The bandages on her neck seemed to burn her flesh. She knew what happened the last time that she had tried to fight a Marked. And Ishizu was stronger than Risen could ever hope to be.

"My name is Colin," the man behind her said as he shifted next to her.

"Nephenee."

* * *

It hadn't been that long since Link had been in Ordon Village. Two, three weeks maybe. It wasn't the three years that everyone thought. He often came back to his home to wander the well-beaten paths with the paws of a wolf. It gave him some semblance of his past while he wrapped his black body around the pedestal of the Master Sword. But it was the first time in three years that he had returned as a human.

He didn't expect those well-beaten paths to be covered in blood when he finally returned.

Link knew that he wasn't a vengeful man, but that was up to interpretation. He considered it justice. He wouldn't allow this cloaked man, the king of the Gerudo, as Nephenee had said, to run over his home as if it was nothing. The Bulbins had done that over three years ago. There was no need for this small peaceful village to go through that again.

The king got up off of his horse and dropped to the ground with a heavy thud. Link gritted his teeth. This man was obviously a power fighter much like . . . well, much like literally ever dungeon boss that he had even faced. And they were all a hell of a lot bigger than this king was.

Link tightened his grip on the Master Sword. "Do you speak Hylian?"

The man glanced up at him, even though his face was hidden by the hood, and Link could tell that soulless eyes were focused on him. "Well, well. If it isn't the Hero." His voice was deep and smooth, like the velvet that would smother you in your sleep.

"I'll take that for a yes," Link said. "Why have you attacked this village? They have brought no harm to you."

"Leverage, Hero. I need something to start a war. And this place is convenient. Or perhaps it's because this place is your home and I wanted to strike you were it hurts."

"You don't even know me. I want you to leave. Or I will send you back in three different body bags with what survivors I keep alive."

"Harsh, Hero. You may be strong," the man said carefully as lazy as could be.

Suddenly, there was a hand wrapped in a dark glove and a metal gauntlet in front of his face. Link's reflexes barely had time to shove his blade in front of his face before the dark magic coursed out of the glove and pushed him back away from the horseman, straight into the side of Fado's house.

"But you need to be so much stronger to defeat me," he said cruelly, flickering haunting green flames across his fingers. "It seems that the Hero has grown weak over the generations and eons."

Link pulled himself out of the wall. He cracked his shoulders. No, no broken bones, but he was sore all over. He was panting from holding up his sword against the dark magic. He shook his head to free both his head and his odd cap of the rubble. He grimaced at the man.

"Well, I guess that they just don't make Heroes like they used to," the man said carefully.

Link glanced to his left and saw Colin and Nephenee facing off against Ishizu. Colin was holding his own—after all, Link had taught him personally. It was nice to see how much he had grown as both a swordsman and a person—but Nephenee was in a tough spot. One of her blades had disappeared and she held her arm like it was broken. She had just gotten her hand healed as well. Now something else was broken.

Colin glanced over at Link for a moment. Ishizu took the lapse of concentration to her advantage and slashed towards him. Nephenee, her eyes wide and determined, shoved Colin back and placed herself between the two of them. Her broken arm hanging uselessly, she tried to block the curved blade, but she didn't have the strength to hold it against the onslaught.

Link stared in horror as Ishizu's blade cut through Nephenee's flesh. Some part of Link's brain was calculating that the blow was too low to hit her heart or her lungs, which meant that there was still a chance to save her. But mostly, Link's thoughts kicked into overdrive when he figured out how to get Nephenee healed without losing her life, his life or Colin's.

As soon as Nephenee got injured, Colin kicked Ishizu in the stomach and shoved the warrior away for the young Gerudo girl who was groaning on the ground and pushing her free hand into the wound, making some attempt to stop the bleeding.

Link moved and concentrated on his own opponent. He trusted Colin to be able to handle his own opponent for the time being. And he had a feeling that he shouldn't turn his back to this king.

"You survived," the man said. "Excellent."

"Who the hell are you?" Link growled, his blue eyes narrowing and his lips pulled back over his teeth in a snarl.

"The king of the Gerudo, of course," the man said coldly. "An old enemy. An eternal rival. A demon thief, according to this timeline."

Link reeled back. What this man was suggesting couldn't be true could it? "No . . . that's not right! I killed him! I watched the Sages burn his body!"

The man pulled off his hood while he shoved his left hand out to Link, the back glowing with the same triangle that was on his sword. One of the marks of those chosen by the Goddesses.

Link knew the man, yet he didn't know him. It was the same red hair curled into sharp pins, the same cruel eyes, the same tinted black skin. The same dark armor and billowing cloak. The same sense of malice. But there were differences. He no longer had the white scar on his stomach beneath his armor, the one that had been pierced twice by sacred blades. He was shorter and less stocky than Link remembered him.

But, most of all, he was . . . young. Maybe a year or two older than Link. But that . . . wasn't right. He was supposed to be an older man. A middle-aged man. Old enough to be Link's father. He wasn't supposed to be Link's age. He wasn't supposed to look like he had just passed his twenty-first birthday.

But there was no denying who he was.

It was Ganondorf.

"I stabbed a sacred blade through your stomach! YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!" Link shouted, pointing towards Ganondorf with his sword. "What the hell is going on here?"

Ganondorf grabbed the Master Sword between two of his fingers and shoved it away from Link, out of his grasp. Link reeled back and shoved his shield between the two of them.

Link didn't understand anything. Three years ago, he had killed this man. He had watched; no, he had felt the life spill out of him. He had seen the body burning on a rough funeral pyre and the ashes scattered out into the air. Ganondorf was dead.

So what was going on?

"You're asking the wrong questions, Hero of Twilight," Ganondorf said as he held the Master Sword between his fingers before throwing it down into the ground. "And you disappoint me. I had once thought that Heroes were powerful. I hate being disappointed."

Link felt his pride bristle but he didn't say anything other than keep his guard up. He knew what Ganondorf could do.

"Grow stronger, boy," Ganondorf chuckled, "and maybe you'll find the answers. Until then, know that Hyrule is at war, and that you couldn't do a thing to prevent it."

Link ripped the Master Sword out of the ground. "Or I could kill you for a second time."

Ganondorf laughed, and Link was shocked once more at how young Ganondorf was. If Link hadn't recognized the cold laugh, he would have thought that they were two completely different people. But why was he even here? And why did he look like he had gone to his teenager days?

"Just try it, Hero. You're weak. And I think that you know that you are."

"Everyone is weak. Why should I be any different?"

"Because you need to be more than that. Give a message to your little princess. Tell her that I'm coming for her a second time. And this time, she won't escape."

Link gritted his teeth. That made no sense, but Link paid little attention to it. "Why are you leaving us alive?"

Ganondorf smirked. "Because I want you to watch as I tear your kingdom down once more."

Before Link could respond, Ganondorf—or whoever he was—turned to Ishizu, who was standing over Colin and Nephnee. Nephenee looked like she was in bad shape, as pale as Link himself was, while Colin was still on his feet, still trying to fight with even zero energy.

"We're done here. Get the soldiers out of the village."

"As you wish, my lord."

The demon king once again mounted his ferocious beast and whipped out of the village. As his soldiers followed quickly behind him, Link clenched his teeth. The Gerudo woman sprinted away, the slowest ones holding the wounded between them. They left the now devastated village behind them. Link repeated the same phrase that he had given to Ganondorf.

"What the hell is going on here?"


	12. Ch 11: A Second Leavetaking

**A/N: I hope that everyone had a great 2012! Now, on to 2013, and another chapter of Shadow Reign! I want to thank everyone for reviewing, since I'm only 2 reviews away from triple digits. Thank you all so much! Although I don't respond to reviews, I read every single one and I enjoy the feedback and critism. Once more, if you want a response, PM me. I respond to every one of those. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own LoZ. **

**Warnings: Minor character death. I hope that no one is offput by it. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy! **

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign _

_Chapter Eleven: A Second Leave-taking _

Link laid Nephenee down on the bed of his old home carefully. Her breathing was shallow, but steady. Her tanned face was paler than it usually was, almost matching Link's skin color. Link pulled out a wet cloth and wrung out the extra water before placing it on her forehead. Her red hair was unbound and fell in long strands across her face.

Colin approached and placed her scimitars next to her bed. He moved back silently, watching Link closely. After a pregnant pause, he cleared his throat and spoke.

"Everyone thought that you were dead."

Link didn't react. He had expected it. Every six months or so, he would journey back to the village in wolf form to watch the going-ons of the people he had once known. Every time that he would return, he would be tempted to rejoin the life that he had once had. A simple farm boy with a simple life. But then he thought of the Triforce on his right hand and the duties that went along with it. This life hadn't been his choice. It had chosen him.

"I know."

"Why did you come back now?" he said softly. "Why not earlier? If not years, why not minutes earlier? Then . . ." Colin's voice cracked. "Then Ilia wouldn't be gone."

"So she was taken, was she?" Link said as he ripped open the bottom of Nephenee's shirt, retaining her modesty but looking at the wound. Link didn't react, but Colin winced. Link removed his bracers and his gloves, putting his bare hand into a bowl of water and grabbing to towel to wipe at her wound. "I thought that she was gone again." His voice was emotionless but there was a deep pain in his chest that he had failed to protect Ilia once more.

Nephenee groaned as Link started gently wiping at the wound. Colin glanced at the girl once more. "Who is she?"

"Her name is Nephenee. She's a traitor to the Gerudo, who are the people who just tried to kill us. That man that you saw . . . that's the king of the Gerudo apparently. Nephenee and her friend tried to rebel against him, but nothing happened. She just got banished, her friend got imprisoned and they didn't even slow him down."

Nephenee groaned once more. Link pulled the cloth off of her forehead and dipped into water before placing it back on her forehead and over her eyes. It seemed to calm her.

Colin paused. "I saved her life. In the Forest Temple. I . . . didn't really know what I was doing in the dungeon. I didn't think that she would give up the life I saved for me."

"The Gerudo have something known as a life debt," Link said while he wiped at her wound. Nephenee's good hand scrambled around the bed and grabbed onto Link's other hand, holding it in a death grip. Link could tell that she is in pain, but didn't want to show weakness. Her knuckles were white as she held Link's hand like it was the only thing that kept her in this world. She grimaced and bit her bottom lip painfully, drawing a single drop of blood.

Link moved his hand out of hers for a moment. Without Link's hand, it curled fiercely into the blankets. Link wrung out the towel into another basin, watching as the water turned a thin red. He grimaced internally. This wasn't good. She was losing a lot of blood, and fast. Link recognized that some of her vitals had been hit and if he couldn't think of a solution, she would die within the day.

His mind flashed back to Midna, her weak breathing on his back as he ran through the Hyrule Fields. The way that he would feel her heartbeat skip a few beats. His desperation while he ran, screaming internally that he had to get to Princess Zelda, which outwardly only registered as a howl.

A more recent memory . . . when he had lashed out at Ilia in his sleep. The way that her hands drew to her face and her lips screamed as the blood splattered Link's floorboards. The way that she couldn't see because of the blood in her eyes. How Link had dropped his dagger in horror and pulled her into his arms before running to the spring. His weakest moment. His nightmares.

Link placed the pink towel into Colin's hand. "I'm going to go get some healing potion. Watch over her while I'm gone."

Colin looked like he had more questions, but he remained silent, placing the cloth back onto Nephenee's bleeding side. As Link moved out of his old home, Colin's words travelled across the empty space.

"You're going to have to meet everyone eventually."

Link sighed. "I know."

Link opened the door and looked back silently to see that Nephenee had now latched her death grip onto Colin's hand while he wiped at her wound.

As Link closed the door, he heard Colin's soft "Don't worry. I'm here."

* * *

Link was careful as he made his way to Ordon Spring. The fairies floated around in their pink balls of light. A few of them swirled around his legs and healed the soreness that had crept into his limbs from that fight against Gano—whoever he was. Link still didn't believe that Ganondorf had come back to life. He had felt the life leave the Demon Thief's body. There was no way that he could have come back from that.

The water was a clean and clear and revived him. In the middle of the spring, there was a sparkling of golden light swirling around itself. As soon as Link approached it, there was a flash of light and in the place of the swirl, a woman sat in the spring. Her blue hair protected her modesty while out of her back grew two gossamer wings. She held out a hand and one of the fairies came and rested on it.

"I haven't seen you in a long time, Hero," the Great Fairy said as she brushed the wings of the fairy in her hand and it swirled around her fingers happily. "Is there another girl that you need me to save?"

"Unfortunately, yes," Link said with a grimace.

The fairy queen looked up at him carefully. "I warned you last time, Hero. My tears are running dry. I am a pure spirit, and this world has become tainted once more. I can no longer cry for your sake."

"Why? What happened?"

"Why? Why, for the same reason that you could no longer control your transformations. For the same reason that, at the moment, only your willpower and that magic blade is holding the beast back." The Great Fairy trained her kaleidoscope eyes on Link, which seemed to be duller than ever these days.

"I can keep it under control."

"It's a part of you, just as much as this form is. You know that just as well as I do," she mused softly while letting go of the pink fairy, another one coming to take its place, dancing across her palm. There was a moment of silence before the Great Fairy spoke again. "I sense that more than healing has brought you to me."

Link nodded and sat down on the edge of the spring, the tips of his boots an inch away from the water. "You are a spirit. How much do you know of the threat that currently plagues this land?"

"I know only that it exists. I am a spirit, yes, but I am a pure one. I cannot get closer to the darkness than I have already without losing my life force."

"It seems that Ganondorf has come back to life." Link stated, although the words felt bitter and untrue in his mouth.

"I wouldn't doubt that," the Great Fairy said quietly as she brushed the wings of the fairy in her hand, "but this goes far deeper than just Ganondorf. There's a deeper game going on here than a revived villain. Something in this land has gone terribly wrong."

"I can tell," Link said as he dragged his bare hands through the soft sand and dirt of the bank of the spring.

"I cannot help you, Hero, other than having my minions save your charge."

Link looked back up into her dulled kaleidoscope eyes in surprise.

"Yes, Hero," the spirit as she guided two of her fairies to his side. "I can save her without the use of my tears. This girl is different than the one that you brought before me to this spring." She paused for a moment. "As for that girl, the one with the scar, she will be safe until you find her. She's more important than you think. She has her own battles to fight."

Link nodded and got up from the sand, brushing off his pants. Two fairies floated from the woman's outstretched hand and landed lightly on his tunic. He had grown fond of the little sprites over his adventures (especially their ability to save him from dying) so he held out a bare hand to one of them and they swirled around it playfully.

As Link left, the Great Fairy called out to him.

"If you want answers, I would suggest you go to Zelda. She has the most knowledgeable information network in all of Hyrule."

Link looked back at the Great Fairy, his face emotionless. For a moment, the Great Fairy thought that she saw something darker within his eyes, but it disappeared.

"Don't worry," Link said, his voice coldly even, "I was thinking about paying the Princess a visit anyway."

* * *

Colin was still sitting with Nephenee when Link returned, the two fairies floating softly behind them. Colin was wiping Nephenee's wounds, holding her hand and murmuring empty condolences to deaf ears. He looked up when Link walked into the room, an unreadable look on his face. The fairies sparkled and shimmered in the air, drawing Colin's eyes.

"You have fairies? They never follow humans willingly."

Link said nothing as he sat down next to Nephenee and guided the fairies to her wounds. The pink dust settled on the wounds slowly. Link watched as the fairies began to swirl around her side, connecting the broken tissue, cleaning the wound and healing it. Nephenee relaxed and breathed out slowly, showing that she was feeling the effects of the healing. For a moment, she looked out from under the towel on her forehead to lock her golden eyes with Link's blue ones.

"Thank you. It seems that I owe you a debt as well." Her voice was faint and strangled, affected by her wounds.

Link moved the cloth to cover her eyes once more. "Don't do that. Just get better."

Nephenee didn't respond as her breathing evened out and she seemed to fall asleep. Link placed a hand on Colin's shoulder.

"We should leave. There's nothing that we can do other than let the fairies do their work."

Colin glanced back at Link and he was reminded of how much his old pupil had grown. Colin was going to be sixteen soon, just one year younger than Link was when he had started his adventure. And while Colin lived with bloodshed just like Link, Colin would always be softer, less hardened, easier to accept the best in people. He hadn't seen all the things that Link had seen.

"I think that I'll stay with her," Colin said slowly. "I feel responsible for her, after all."

Link nodded as he left his old home. He had never truly contemplated how awkward it was to be back. More than ever, there seemed to be those lingering questions at the edges of conversations, questions that Link refused to answer. He had left this place with more questions than answers when he had left, and all they had done was fester and multiply while he had been gone.

As Link descended the ladder down from his house, he felt a presence in the woods. Not a malicious presence, but someone was there all the same.

Link dropped down softly on the ground. He glanced over his green-clad shoulder carefully. "I know that you're there. You can come out now."

There was no movement in the trees. Link stayed very still for a moment, and then, all at once, he wiped out a dagger from his boot and flicked it into the trees, whistling as it cut the air. The dull thunk of the blade hitting a tree greeting his ears. Damn. Whoever was there must have moved.

There was a burst of wind behind him. Link turned slowly to the woman who now stood behind him, her arms crossed and a black tear tattooed beneath her left eye. The lower part of her face was wrapped in bandages and she wore a skin-tight combat suit that seemed to be reinforced with chain mail at vital points. A pouch of daggers was strapped her thigh. Her short, unbound, black hair fell just under her ears. She looked to be about twenty-six, six years older than Link himself.

Link removed his hand from the Master Sword as soon as he saw the symbol on the right arm of her blue-and-black attire. The red crying eye.

"The Princess's watchdogs," Link said slowly. He knew about the Sheikah, simply because there was little that you can hide from small, twittering birds that Link sent to keep an eye on things while he was gone.

When the woman didn't respond, Link shot her a glare that could have frozen ice. "You've been shadowing me since the battle. I don't think that you're here for a pleasure call. Why have you been following me?"

"Orders," the woman said shortly, not using any wasted words.

Link nodded, understanding the appreciation for silence. "Then I have a message for your Princess. I'm coming to pay her a visit, and she _will_ see me, no questions asked. And whatever she thinks is happening in Ordon, I promise her that it's ten times worse."

The woman nodded, bristling only once when Link spoke so casually about the Princess. She nodded and suddenly disappeared, leaving nothing but an odd nut in her place. As Link walked away, his knife came back out of the forest, impaling the ground only a few inches away from his foot. Link pulled the dagger out of the ground and shoved it back into his boot once more.

He gave a small smile. "Thanks for my knife back."

As Link walked into Ordon village, he could have sworn that he heard laughter on the wind.

* * *

Link didn't really like introductions. Well, introductions that didn't involve swordplay or the need for trash talk. He didn't like reintroductions either. And that was what he was doing with the entire population of Ordon. The people he had grown up with suddenly didn't know him anymore, and Link didn't really want them to. He was a very quiet, personal man and there were certain things in his past that could endanger every single one of the villagers. There was no need for any of them to pry, but they were going to and Link knew it.

The mood of Ordon Village was morbid at best. Despite everyone's praying, it hadn't rained in the few short hours since the battle, which meant that there was still blood everywhere. The remaining able-bodied men, which now accounted for as Fado, Bo and Rusl, piled the bodies of the Gerudo warriors together and burned them. Link was sure that they meant it as an insult to the women, but Link was internally glad that they were departing this world in the way that their customs demanded. From what Nephenee had told him, tradition was everything to the Gerudo, which was why the Resistance was such a futile and desperate attempt.

On Rusl's porch, the soldier that Link saved was sitting silently while Uli patched up his arm with a lonely expression on her face. Next to her, a young girl—Link knew her to be Colin's little sister, Kana—tore bandages and chattered aimlessly, unaware of the grim mood that gripped the people. Sera cried loudly while preparing the body of her husband, Hanch, for burial. Beth stood next to her mother with a hand on her shoulder. Her head was wrapped in bandages and she had the dullest look in her eyes. As Link walked by, she looked up in surprise, but sobered instantly and looked back down at her parents, crossing her arms as if to protect herself.

Talo approached Link and looked up at wonder and confusion. He didn't say anything for a moment.

"It's you. It's really you. You're alive, after all this time."

Link nodded softly, pulling back his lips in a half smile. "Yes, Talo, it's me."

Talo ruffled his brown hair and crossed his arms. "Well, this is awkward. I'm gonna go find a rock and bang my head against it before figuring out that this isn't a dream. Are you really back?"

"Yes. But not for long. I have things to settle outside of Ordon Village."

Talo looked like he wanted to say something, but he clamped his mouth shut and turned away. "At least say goodbye this time, 'kay?"

Without waiting for Link's answer, Talo went back to digging arrows out of corpses and placing them back into his quiver, the tips still bloody. Link would hear Talo's muffled swear words every time that he broke the arrowhead off, leaving the important part in the rotting flesh. Talo would move onto the next corpse, complaining the entire time about how many more arrows that he was going to have to make.

Link was here in the village for a reason after all, as he headed over to Uli's house. He walked up the narrow path towards the soldier and the two women tending to him. Uli saw his approach and had a look of wonder and shock on her face, but it was masked quickly. Uli tied the bandages around the soldier's arm and got up off of the porch carefully, hands clasped around her pregnant stomach. Link didn't look into Uli's eyes as she approached him.

"Link . . ." Uli said quietly, the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes.

Suddenly, her hand connected with the side of his cheek. Link had taken far greater hits before, so he felt like he had disappointed Uli when he didn't do anything but flinch under her attack. But she had hit him pretty hard. Link could feel his cheek stinging as he looked back at Uli, whose tears were flowing freely now.

"That's for Ilia, who's not here to do it herself," Uli said softly. Uli gently placed her hand over the wound that she had just inflicted. Link looked into her eyes for the first time in over three years and gave his foster mother a small smile.

She wrapped her arms around Link and gave him a squeeze, but not too tight. Her lips brushed his ear. "I'm so glad you came back, Link."

Link nodded and removed himself from Uli's arms while she wiped at her tears. "I can't stay, though. I have to move on. I have things to settle in other parts of Hyrule. Ordon Village is only the beginning."

The soldier behind the two of them cleared his throat. Uli moved out from between them, climbing the steps of the porch and taking Kana by the hand before disappearing into the house, sending a sad look back towards Link, who gave a small hollow smile in return.

The soldier threaded a hand through his black hair callously. "My name is Captain Falnoff. I'm a member of Princess Zelda's personal guard. You must be Link."

"I am." Link paused for a moment. "You are going to return to the castle, aren't you?"

Falnoff nodded. "I have an obligation to my princess to report what has happened, although I'm sure that her spies have already returned to her. Besides, with both Ilku and Jeoffry dead, and me wounded, I'd be no use as a soldier here."

"I have a favor to ask," Link said bluntly.

Falnoff twined his fingers together. "You saved my life. I suppose that that garners a few favors."

For a moment, a smile graced Link's features. "In my life, that's the only way that I'm ever going to get favors out of people. Saving their lives." It disappeared off of his face quickly. "When you give your report to the Princess, don't mention my name."

Falnoff's eyebrows rose. "You want me to the lie to the ruler of Hyrule?" Although it wasn't stated, there was a distinct threat under his tone.

"I've already had a word with one of her watchdogs who was sent to follow me. You're a part of the princess's guard, you know who they are. She knows that I'm here. But while she may know that, I don't want everyone else to. I spent three years in obscurity, but before that, I made powerful enemies. I would rather not be found by them." Link paused. "I would also not like the Princess's council to suddenly become interested with what happened before I went missing. If the Princess is alone, tell her what happened. But if it's anywhere that isn't protected by the Sheikah, don't mention my name."

"Maybe obscurity would suit you better," Falnoff said slowly, watching Link with indifferent eyes.

Link's eyes were as feral as a beast. "It's always been that way."

* * *

Link made his way back to his old home. He said both hello and goodbye to people that he had once knew but no longer knew him. Bo had clapped him on the back and said that it was nice to see him once more, but if he needed to leave that was okay. Rusl gave him a wave and demanded some help with the clean-up, like time had never passed. Most of the village was bruised and battered. Link said nothing other than a comforting hand to Sera and Beth, who had lost both a husband and a father. He didn't say much to Pergie either, as the woman was still coming to terms with the fact that her husband may never walk again. Jaggle himself clapped Link on the back and said that he never doubted the Hero for a moment from his awkward position on the couch.

Link stayed long enough for the funeral. He was in the back of the crowd, watching from a distance as they lowered the body into the ground. Hanch had been a good man, but how much right did Link have to stand there? He was no longer the person that Hanch had known. Deep down, at his roots, Link knew that he could still be the farm-boy that he had once been before the Twilight occurred. He could be, but he wouldn't. Hyrule didn't need the farm-boy he had once been. They needed the Hero that he was.

"_Everyone is weak. Why should I be any different?" _

"_Because you need to be so much more than that." _

Ganondorf's words were true. He needed to be so much more than "everyone." This world only had one Hero, and that burden fell to him. He had to walk that path. And if that meant that he would leave Ordon Village a day after he had returned to it, then that's the way that it would be.

When Link announced that he was leaving at the end of the funeral, no one said a word. They had all expected it. Even before he had gone missing, Link had never stayed in the village for long. He was always off adventuring, saving another portion of the vast country. Uli came and gave him another hug and whispered that she was glad that he was alive, and that he should write when he could. Fado, who looked strangely empty, made him promise to bring Ilia home. Link nodded and swore, the Great Fairy's words echoing in the back of his mind.

"_As for that girl, the one with the scar, she will be safe until you find her. She's more important than you think. She has her own battles to fight." _

Link left silently as the rest of the village went to sleep for the night, the bloodstains across the village haunting in the candlelight. The entire place stank with the smell of the corpses that they had burned earlier in the day. He had lingering regrets that he was leaving the village in a moment of turmoil, but he had no time to lose. He had to get some answers—even if he had to force them. This idea of Ganondorf coming back to life bothered him. And if he had to get answers to understand his enemy, then he was going to get them.

Link pulled himself up the ladder as he moved to his old home. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see that Nephenee was up and about, pulling her hair up into a ponytail with moderate success due to the fairy that kept playing with the long red strands.

"Stop, sprite! I must do this!"

The fairy didn't heed her words and began tugging on the sleeve of her cut-off purple shirt. Link realized that the fairy was trying to pull Nephenee back into bed.

Colin sat in the chair backwards, his forearms resting on the back of the chair. His sword and shield were back in their places on the holster on his back. He pushed his blond hair out of his eyes as he watched the girl and the little spirit.

"Listen, Nephenee, the fairy's probably right. You're not well enough to be up and about . . ."

Nephenee glared at Colin. "This is coming from the man who refused proper medical treatment to his arm!"

"Hey, I know how to do first-aid, unlike some challenged Gerudo girls that I could mention. There's a shaman in Kakariko Village who taught me how to treat both minor and major wounds. So I can take care of myself."

"Tsk!" Nephenee said nothing else while she wrapped her hair into a high bun, although one or two strands escaped to lightly frame her face.

"You're awfully feisty for a girl who was bleeding to death a few hours ago . . ." Colin mused as he watched her pull her scimitars onto her back.

"I will be fine, Colin! Stop your worrying! You are like a Gerudo nursemaid during birthing season!"

"Whoa, back up. The Gerudo have a birthing season?" Colin asked astonished.

Nephenee cocked her head like she didn't understand. "Of course. We do occasionally take girls from other tribes and villages, but once every three years, women are allowed to leave the clan for a month or so in order to find a mate for the season. It is how we keep the bloodline going. Of course, some of the women find men that they wish to remain with for longer periods of time—they are called the Honorary. They are still Gerudo, but they no longer have to travel with the clan. Of course, all of this must be approved by the Elders or the Chief." Nephenee paused. "You do not have birthing seasons in Hyrule?"

"Goddess no! We get married and devote ourselves to one person!"

Nephenee scoffed. "Sounds boring."

Colin looked horrified while Nephenee seemed indignant when Link cleared his throat. Both of them turned to look at him, but neither moved from their positions where they were.

"I'm leaving tonight to head for Hyrule Castle," Link stated.

Nephenee pulled on a pair of dark gloves. "I am coming."

Link paused. "I didn't know that I was offering."

The girl gave him a light smile. "You did say that I could follow you if I wished, correct? There is nothing for me in this village. And if I go with you, I may find my people once more. I might be able to save Nabooru."

Link gave a wry smile. "I suppose that I could use backup."

"I'm coming too."

Both Link and Nephenee turned to see that Colin hadn't moved from his spot on his chair, but his blue eyes were determined. Link was suddenly reminded of himself—not before the adventure, but after it had begun. The person who no longer saw the glory behind the grand adventure but the consequences, but knew that he had to do it anyway.

"Colin . . . Nephenee's one thing, but you have a family and a life here. Are you sure that you want to leave that behind to come with me?" Link asked carefully. Part of Link shied away from having any more companions. He had always travelled alone . . . well, that wasn't true. He had Midna with him the entire step of the way. Maybe he did need companions.

"They're safe here. Besides, I promised myself that I would get Ilia back. If I have to go with you in order to ensure that, then I will. Besides," Colin looked up and smiled wryly, "I don't think that you ever really finished my sword lessons."

Link gave a small smile. "That I did not."

That night, Link, Colin and Nephenee left Ordon Village. Colin silently left a letter at his parents' bedside table, careful not to disturb their rest. Colin knew that if they knew what he was going to do, they would try to stop him. Nephenee had no ties to break that hadn't already been severed, so she sat on a tree step and sharpened her blades in the night while Link and Colin gathered their things. One of the fairies seemed to have taken a liking to her and not sat at the crown of her head, just in front of the base of her ponytail. Currently, it was snoozing as Nephenee dragged a welding stone back and forth across her scimitar.

The two men approached silently in the night. Colin had a scarf wrapped around his neck and Link had added a dusty tan cloak to his outfit, brushing against just the tops of his boots as he walked. Colin had a small pack tossed over his shoulder while Link seemed to carry nothing other than the pouch on his waist and the weapons on his back.

"Where are your things?" Nephenee asked softly to Link.

"Magic pouch. It's enchanted to carry all of my items without changing size," Link replied swiftly.

"That is . . . extremely convenient," Colin said slowly.

"When you're friends with a small, Twilight imp with the power to warp through space, you get a few freebies."

"What?" Colin asked.

"What?" Nephenee repeated.

"Different story for a different time," Link said carefully. "Is everyone ready to go?"

Both Nephenee and Colin nodded. Without another word, Link swept out of the clearing through the pathway to Faron and the lands beyond. Nephenee shrugged to Colin and followed suit, her footsteps silent in the cold night, the glowing fairy remaining in her blood red hair. As Nephenee left him, Colin glanced once more at the entrance to Ordon village.

"Goodbye," Colin whispered softly.

Then he moved to go and follow the others.


	13. Ch 12: Remnants Of The Past

**A/N: I wanted to mention my 100th reviewer, but it was actually an anonymous review, so I guess that that will have to wait! I've hit triple digits in reviews for the first time! Thank you all!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own LoZ. Thank you!**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twelve: Remnants of the Past_

Link threw some kindling onto the pile. Blowing on the smoldering coals, Link poked it with a thin twig once or twice, trying to get the fire to start. A few more minutes of interchangeable actions and when Link straightened out, he had a roaring fire going. Nephenee smiled at him while she wrapped her own dusty tan cloak around her shoulder. Link had brought an extra one for her, knowing that she wouldn't have accepted charity from Ordon Village. But Nephenee was no stranger to the cold. As hot as the desert may have been, it froze during the nights. She tucked her fingers under her armpits and tried to think of anything but the icicles she swore were forming on her face. The pink fairy that had followed her was breathing slowly as it slept in her hair.

Colin and Link didn't seem fazed by the weather. As they were walking through the fields, Link had told her of a season they had here known as "winter." Nephenee had read about it, but she never thought that she'd get to experience it. Luckily, Colin said that it had passed only a few months ago, and wouldn't be back for a while. She did not want to freeze every night and every day. Although they did mention this odd concept known as snow to her.

Colin rolled his eyes and said that he was going to teach her how to use contractions as soon as they were in Castle Town. Nephnee had merely cocked an eyebrow.

As soon as they entered the Southern Hyrule Field earlier that day, Link had whistled for a long time, then sat down in the grass and waited. For what, Nephenee wasn't sure. Colin glanced her and shrugged, simply saying "he's always like this." So the two of them sat down on either side of him and chattered aimlessly while they waited in the grass field.

Suddenly, a whiny echoed through the fields. A tan horse came towards them, reigning to a halt as soon as she approached them. Link smiled and held out a hand, which the horse nuzzled softly, neighing happily.

"Yes, Epona, I've missed you too."

_So he can talk to birds and horses,_ Nephenee thought. _The perks of being half-beast. _As she thought that, she glanced over at Colin. No one other than her seemed to know about Link's other side. Had he hidden it from the people that he cared about? Did they know that their Hero moonlighted as a wolf?

But Link had unceremoniously shoved Nephenee onto Epona's back. "You're still wounded," Link had said, "and please don't argue with me. I can see those winces when you think that I'm not looking."

Nephenee opened her mouth to protest, saying that she wasn't a burden and that she could carry her own weight, but Link gave her a silencing look.

"You're of no use if you're dead," he said softly, cocking an eyebrow in her direction.

Nephenee had no response for him.

That was the way that they had traveled. Nephenee sat on the horse and tried not to feel like a fool—she had never been much of a horsewoman after all. She was sure that she was quite a sight, unsteady on the horse and a fairy nestled in her bright red hair. For some reason, the sprite had taken a liking to her. Colin and Link would walk next to her. Most of the conversation was provided by Colin and Nephenee either bickering over culture differences or Colin trying to teach the young Gerudo girl the art of contractions. And it was an art. Nephenee just couldn't seem to get the hang of the odd phrasing. Link didn't say much, but he always answered the questions that were allotted from him. When a question about his past popped up, Link would brush it off with a sharp "I'll tell all of it at once."

Colin was the one who suggested that they camped for the night. Nephenee, despite her injuries, was determined to show her Gerudo pride and strength. She would not be the one to suggest rest, not when she knew how important it was to have haste. And Link . . . well, Nephenee got the feeling that Link could have gone days without stopping, through monster infested fields or no. Colin was the one who eventually took Epona's reigns and made the horse stop, saying that they needed to make camp for the night. He didn't seem tired, but Nephenee had caught the glances that he sent her way every time that Epona hit a particularly rough spot. He knew that she was hurting.

And she hated him for it.

But neither she nor Link argued when Colin demanded that they make camp. Link, who seemed to be locked in some sort of trance, only responded when Nephenee snapped her rough fingers in front of his face quickly. Link didn't say much as he set up camp. The only thing that Nephenee got was a rough smile as Link threw a brown cloak that he magically pulled out of his bottomless pouch.

They sat there around the fire, Nephenee breathing on the icicles that seemed to resemble her fingers in a futile attempt to return some semblance of warmth to them. Colin was pulling goat skins and Wolfos hides from the packages on Epona's back as the horse grazed in the fields around them, nibbling on the wild grass.

Link strung a kettle above the fire that he had finally got to light. As he did that, he tossed a small package of meat to Nephenee, who shakily unwrapped the jerky and began chewing the harsh specimen. As Colin moved to sit next to her, she wordlessly handed him the meat. She looked back to Link, who was poking the flames as the fire cast haunting shadows across his pale face.

Nephenee finally decided to break the silence.

"Are you going to tell the two of us what happened to you?"

Link glanced up at her carefully. For a moment he said nothing. Then slowly, he spoke.

"What do you want to know?"

"All of it," Nephenee said brazenly. She glanced over at Colin, who seemed caught between shock and curiosity. "I am certain that I am not the only one who wants answers."

Colin placed the last of the jerky into his mouth. "Personally, I'm caught between a burning passion to know and thinking that I would be better off in ignorance."

Nephenee rolled her eyes at his ambiguous answer. "I just want to understand what is going on," Nephenee said carefully. She paused for a moment. " . . . wolf man."

Link stiffened and glanced at Colin, who did nothing other than glance at Nephenee in question before shifting his gaze to Link's sharp blue eyes.

Nephenee lowered her voice. "Did you not tell anyone in your old life about the abilities you possess?"

Link glanced into the fire, the fire reflected in his eyes. His face was emotionless. "Back then, every day was a fight for survival. I made enemies in high places. It was easier to protect them through ignorance. Besides, who would have believed my tale?"

"I would have."

Link looked up to see Colin staring determinedly back at him. Colin gave a small smile as he bit off another chunk of the jerky.

"And as far as I'm concerned, you just came back from the dead. I doubt anything would surprise me at this point."

"Ten rupees says you are wrong," Nephenee murmured as she pulled the tan cloak closer to her as the wind picked up once more and scattered ashes and hot coals to the open air. "Anyway, Link, if you are going to explain anything, please understand that I am not accustomed to the world that you live in, so you might have to explain things in certain details. I did not grow up with you like Colin."

For a single moment, Link did nothing other than remove the kettle from the flames gently and puring tea silently. But after he distributed the mugs, Link leaned back, away from the flames as he watched the ashes dance into a starless sky.

"Well, I guess that it began with Ilia, a young girl from our village, and Epona, who shouldn't have been jumping fences that day. It would have made everything a lot easier. . ."

* * *

"Report."

Zelda didn't look up as Kukiel appeared in front of her. The princess wasn't exactly sure when her bodyguard had made her way inside of Zelda's room, but Kukiel was kneeling in front of her now, one hand fisted over her heart. The Sheikah's short black just brushed again the black tear on her cheek as her head was bowed before Zelda. As Kukiel straightened up once more to give her report, Zelda's eyes were glued to the parchment that she held in her hands, the rough edge of the quill scratching the paper.

"Ordon Village has been attacked," Kukiel said bluntly as the princess resealed the scroll and placed it on the other side of her over-filled desk, resting with the rest of the parchment that she had gone through already this morning. Normally, she would have handed some of it off to other people, her advisors, etc. But Nestor had left that morning to go see about economics with the Zora people, who were having agricultural difficulties because of the rise in prices with Hyrule. And other than him, she wasn't sure who else she could trust with the princess's seal.

Zelda didn't move her dark blue eyes from the paper. From Kukiel's vantage point, they looked almost gray. She grabbed another scroll from the pile and read through it. "I can't say that this was unexpected. Ren told me as such when he came. Causalities?"

"Only three, although one has been crippled by the attack. Two of your soldiers were killed, as well as one of the villagers. A young girl was taken by the Gerudo to join their ranks."

Finally, Zelda glanced up from her scrolls in shock. "That's quite low considering that there were trained warriors. I expected the village to be burned to the ground and the people dead."

"What was sent was only an advance force, only two dozen or so fighters. Over half were taken out by three fighters. One was a local swordsman of the village. Another was a traitor of the Gerudo who joined up with the villagers. The third was the one that you sent me to find."

Zelda was grateful to Kukiel for her ambiguity. She knew better than anyone that the walls of the castle had ears.

Zelda raised a brown eyebrow but no other outward display showed her shock. "So he is still alive."

"You never doubted him, Princess," Kukiel said carefully.

Zelda paused. "I can't say that I know him well. But I have seen him in action. I know what he is capable of. As a person, I can't be so sure."

Kukiel waited, sensing that the princess wasn't done with her speech.

"Three years ago, I asked him to guard Hyrule with me. He turned me down, saying that the people would never trust him, that he was only a reminder of the past. I'm not sure if I've forgiven him for that. To me, as a Hero, it was his job to stand by my side and help protect Hyrule. Help the nation rebuild. Now, seeing how weak and hopeless this country has become—has remained—I'm not sure if I was wrong."

Black met dark blue as Kukiel looked at Zelda. "Are you sure that you're not being too forceful on him? He wasn't raised to be a protector as you were. He's a warrior, an adventurer, a killer. Unlike the Sheikah that you are used to, he has no loyalty to Hyrule. As of right now, he's not even a citizen of Hyrule itself."

"The Hero has stood by the Princess for centuries," Zelda countered.

"But he's not just the Hero, Princess. I doubt that he knows of his duties as you know of yours. You said so yourself—you don't know him and he doesn't know you."

Zelda sighed. "I know that you're right. But Nestor's gone, Falnoff's not going to be back for another couple days, I sent Ren off on a mission, and you're about to replace him there. I'm alone in this fight, and I can't help but feel a bit . . . betrayed and insulted that he didn't stand by Hyrule."

"Don't count your Cucoos before they hatch, Princess," Kukiel said softly. "I spoke to him before I left the village."

"You _spoke _to him?" Zelda said with shock underlying her words, but not blatantly. Kukiel didn't speak to anyone on a stealth mission, and she never broke protocol.

"More like he chucked a knife at me and I responded."

"That seems more like you."

Kukiel paused. "He's coming to Hyrule Castle to see you—apparently with whatever force he deems is necessary. And I don't think that the guards outside will be able to handle a man of his caliber. Should I post some of the Sheikah outside to stop him?"

Zelda raised her painted nails to her chin in thought. "No. Let him come. Kukiel, we've got a change of plans. I will go and relieve Ren myself, having Tempa take care of the protection of the Sages. She's much more qualified anyway and I trust her with my secrets. You'll stay here and handle things while I'm gone. I have some questions that I want to ask anyway and I've been absent far too long. Besides, I have a feeling that I'm going to need a bodyguard in the next few days. I'm bringing back Ren as well. He'll act as your backup."

"Tempa? The Shadow herself?" Kukiel asked in a monotone, but Zelda could sense the doubt.

"Yes, it's that important. I can't plan for what he'll do when he gets here. We might have to change a lot of our plans." Zelda grimaced. "He's a bit of a wild card."

"Princess, you can't stand wild cards."

Zelda shrugged. "A plan's nothing if not adaptable."

There was a moment of silence as Zelda sighed and threw another scroll into the pile. Zelda got up from the desk and cracked her back softly. She glanced over at her bodyguard.

"I'm going to head out in about an hour. I'll be back before dawn," she said as she glanced out at the starry sky that draped across Hyrule Fields. Suddenly, she remembered the Twilight that had been her only sight for nearly a year in her well-furnished prison cell. Although she may have hated everything that it stood for, she couldn't help but enjoy the look of the Twilight.

"Are you sure that you shouldn't take some protection? Me or perhaps a lower level Sheikah?"

Zelda shook her head. "I'll move faster by myself and Ren will be with me when I return. And I'll use the Tunnels just to be safe. I need you to stay here and control things while I'm gone. If anyone asks—and no one will—I'm sleeping."

Kukiel looked hesitant to accept her orders, but she didn't say a word about it. "Princess . . . are you sure that I shouldn't go in your place? It would be safer."

"No. The Sheikah will get suspicious if I don't appear there soon." Zelda glanced back at her desk, which was still covered in scrolls that she had to read. "Besides, I'm going to rot if I stay here any longer."

The Sheikah woman nodded and brushed her cropped black hair out of her dark eyes. "If you say so, Princess."

"Thank you, Kukiel."

Zelda placed her left hand over her heart and the Triforce glowed bright for a moment, engulfing the princess in a bright light. Kukiel simply closed her eyes to the light. In the princess's place, there was a Sheikah boy, wearing a skintight blue suit with the blood red Sheikah symbol on the chest. There was a pouch tied onto his thigh. His head was wrapped with white bandages, the only skin being a strip around his eyes. A few blond bangs fell into crimson eyes. The rest of his long hair was wrapped into a tight ponytail wrapped with white string and ending with a sharp dart that could be used to harm enemies. Behind his back was a typical Sheikah short sword, used only in emergencies.

Kukiel, as always, was impressed with Zelda's transformations. She had gotten better as she had gotten older, but this transformation had always come easy to her, even when Zelda had been a child. Zelda had once explained that it was a part of her reincarnation as the princess of destiny. She had always known this transformation.

In all other eyes, she was a normal Sheikah boy. But Kukiel knew that hardened princess beneath the bandages and the knives.

Like most other Sheikah, Zelda hadn't been Blooded yet. There was no really need for her to be, considering that she couldn't protect herself and she was privy to most of their secrets anyway. The only thing that she couldn't do was tell other people about the Sheikah or the Sheikah Tunnels. But that wasn't for other people's ears anyway.

Zelda cracked her bandages knuckles. "So, how do I look?" she asked in her Sheikah voice, the rough medium tone of a boy whose voice hadn't yet dropped. She was probably the equivalent of a fifteen year old in this form.

"Perfect, as always, Princess," Kukiel responded automatically, although it was true.

Zelda shook her head. "Right now I'm Sheik, and that means that you outrank me."

Kukiel gave a rare smile. "Then, recruit, you had better hurry up."

* * *

" . . . and then I came back to Ordon Village after everything had happened. I returned the Master Sword to its pedestal and said goodbye to Midna as she went back into the Twilight. With nothing left to do and my adventure finished, I came back home."

If Colin's eyes got any bigger, they would pop out of his head. Nephenee had stopped eating her jerky and didn't even look as if she was cold any longer, despite that fact that her cloak had been wiped back by the wind.

Colin was the first one to regain his composure. "So you're telling me that you wandered all over Hyrule, met all these different people, singlehandedly defeated the threat that almost none of us were aware of, and can turn into a wolf in your spare time?"

Link shrugged. He had been talking for the past few hours, and despite the night getting late, none of them seemed to be tired. Link had told his entire tale in one go, without any interruptions other than Colin's shocked "You can turn into a WOLF?!" and Nephenee coldly elbowing him in the ribs.

"Well, it's not like I did it by myself. I mean, I had Midna for almost the entire journey and the Light Spirits and the Resistance and-"

"But you still did it all," Nephenee interrupted. "That alone is incredible. In my home country, south of Hyrule, we have tales of a young boy who saved our nation from a vicious king. Your tale reminds me of the old campfire tales that were told to the young ones."

"That apparently is the Hero that came generations before. I'm a reincarnation of his spirit."

Nephenee blinked twice. "Well. That explains a lot."

Link only shrugged. Nephenee was a bit surprised that he told them both the entire tale, seeing as he barely talked before. He was good with his words, although at some points he paused, as if he wasn't sure whether or not he should have told him a certain portion of it. In the end, Nephenee knew that he had decided to tell them the entire tale from start to finish, and that he was currently wondering whether or not he had made the right choice.

Colin hadn't said much through the tale. He knew Link much better than Nephenee did and she thought that he would be more shocked about the development. Colin watched Link closely with his light blue eyes that carried an emotion much like forced acceptance.

The crackling of the fire was the only sound heard for pregnant silence, until Colin cleared his throat.

"But what about the end of the tale?"

Nephenee glanced over at Colin with a raised eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Colin didn't move his eyes away from Link. "What happens next? You and I both know that that's not the end. Why did you leave? It wasn't just for Ilia. Something else happened, didn't it? Where did you go and what made you leave Ordon Village once again?"

Link sighed and rested his arm on one of his bent knees. "It happened about two days after I returned to Ordon Village. That night, I no longer had control over my transformations. When I woke up the next morning, I wasn't human anymore. I was a wolf. And I had no idea why that was. Since the Twilight Shard hadn't changed me, I couldn't remove it to turn myself back. So, I did the only logical thing. I went to get the Master Sword."

Nephenee and Colin sat their enraptured, forcing themselves not to say anything.

"It was simple getting back into the grove. I'm the Hero, so the woods always remain open for me. The Master Sword turned me back to a human like it always does. But after that day I decided to keep it with me."

Link paused as he poked the fire again and removed the kettle from above the flames, setting it down on the dry, cold earth. "I soon discovered that if I was away from the Master Sword for long periods of time—like when I'm sleeping—I turn back into a wolf. For a moment I thought that the Twilight had returned or that Midna wasn't so successful in holding back Zant's followers in the Twilight Realm. But I talked the Great Fairy, and she said that it wasn't that. But, then again, she's a pure spirit and she can't get very close anything tainted.

"After nearly a month of changing back and forth between wolf and human, along with all the flashbacks I had of my adventures, it became apparent to me that I couldn't be in human company for much longer. I didn't have control of my transformations, I didn't have control of myself, and half the time I thought that I was back in the dungeons, fighting for my life against Zant and Ganondorf and all their minions. My memories had scarred me something deep, and although I tried to have some sort of normal life by training Colin and Talo, I knew that I was slipping."

"So you left," Colin said quietly.

Link nodded, an emotionless look on his face. "I left. Ilia was the last straw, the last push I needed to remind myself that the flashbacks and the beast I had inside me simply weren't going to go away. Once I had lashed out in my sleep and scarred her"—there was a soft gasp from Nephenee—"I realized that I needed to leave. After all, it was only a matter of time before I killed someone, one of my friends, one of my family. That day, I healed Ilia in the spring using the Great Fairy's tears, packed my things, and left."

"For three years." Colin seemed particularly interesting in counting the blades of grass. "Why didn't you come back earlier?"

"Part of it was the beast inside me. The beast that I am. I had to learn to control it. Right now, even more than the Master Sword, my own willpower is holding the transformation. You spend three years as a wolf and you suddenly have control over it. Another, larger part of me recognized that Ordon Village was no longer my home anymore. After everything that had happened, I just couldn't recognize that place as home. I knew that more than to Ordon Village, my allegiance had to be for Hyrule. That's the same reason that I left Ordon yesterday. Because it was no longer my place. Perhaps suddenly cutting all of my ties to the village wasn't the best course of action at the time, but I was desperate and not exactly the clearest of thinkers when I left. After that, I just couldn't find a reason to return, only to leave again. It would have been cruel to both the villagers and me."

Colin sighed. "You know, sometimes I wish that you didn't have all the answers. Then I could get mad at you for some of the choices that you make."

Link raised a hand to his right cheek, which was slightly bruised in the firelight. "Believe me, you can still get mad."

Nephenee straightened up, jolting the fairy awake and it tugged on the roots of her hair in retribution. "OW! Natl, that was not justified!"

If fairies could blow raspberries, it was.

"Natl?" Colin asked with a cocked eyebrow, trying not to laugh.

Nephenee shrugged. "In my defense, I only know of fairies from the old stories, from the ones about the Sage of Spirit and the Hero. And there are only two fairies in those stories—Navi and Tatl. Annoying little talking fluttery things, apparently, although I will not argue their usefulness. If this pink ball of fluff and sparkles is going to be following me around, it should at least have a name."

"Fairies could talk?"

Surprisingly, Link was the one who answered Colin's question. "Only certain fairies were granted with the gift to talk by the Great Fairy, and they lived in the forests of Hyrule a long, long time ago. They died out shortly after the Hero of Legend passed from this world. They were spirit guides for the children of the forest, which never aged. The Hero of Legend was apparently raised in one of those forests, which is why he had a fairy guide. Those fairies glowed blue, according to the stories. The blue fairies faded with the rest of forest culture as they began to become integrated into Hylian society. Eventually, the pink fairies were born, without the ability to talk, but with all the intelligence of their previous race."

"You are surprisingly knowledgeable about the Ancient Hero," Nephenee mused.

"I've just got some really old acquaintances."

"So . . ." Nephenee drew out the vowel sound of the word slowly, glancing at Colin with a small smirk on her face. "Colin, you owe me ten rupees."

Colin didn't argue as he handed the money over.

* * *

The aura of Twilight echoed through the sky. But inside that Twilight there were cracks of light that shimmered down onto black patches of earth.

The place was secluded. No being, either of Twilight or of Light, walked through these hallowed grounds. No one touched the darkened temple that rested in these plains, surrounded by the glowing trees of the Twilight, the soft blue light radiating from the symbols.

The Temple was old. Many thought that it was built by the Twili, but that was false. It had been there long before the Twili had ever existed. Long ago, it once had a name, but it had been lost over the ages. These days, it was simply called Relic's Temple.

The Relic was not in deference to its age. Rather, it was the name of what was housed inside.

_Wake. _

No one treaded this far. It was a crime punishable by death. Even the guards had been removed over the centuries.

_Wake. _

The steps of the Temple were eroded and worn, crumbling over the years. There was only one room of the Relic's Temple, one that had been forgotten about long ago, the one that housed the Relic itself.

_As your master, I command you! WAKE! _

There was suddenly the sound of shattering chains. Light footsteps echoed in the empty room as the Relic fell from the chains that bound it to the wall. Knuckles cracked through black gloves.

"_And are you my master?" _

_You remember my control, don't you? You remember the feeling of my chains around your neck. _

The Relic touched its neck, where a single glowing red chain had burned itself. The Relic grimaced.

"_Controlled once more." _

_Yes, you are. Now. I have orders for you. _

The Relic moved to the center of the Temple and pulled out the pure black blade that was sheathed inside the pedestal. Its grip was wrapped in black and red leather. The Relic tested the long sword once in the air before sheathing it.

"_Your orders?" _The Relic asked without speaking. His master wasn't corporal after all.

_Destruction. _

Dark Link smiled cruelly.


	14. Ch 13: Glass Spires

**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews, story-alerts and favorites!**

**Disclaimer: Legend of Zelda belongs to someone who isn't me. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Thirteen: Glass Spires_

If one thing had remained the same in the three years that Link had been missing, it was Castle Town. Nothing seemed to phase the townspeople, whether they be Goron, Zora or Hylian, as the three races were spread out evenly across the square, although Hylians were the most common you would come across.

After nearly a week of traveling across the Hyrule Fields, slowed by Nephenee's injuries, it was nice to see people once more.

Nephenee got some odd looks as the trio walked through the streets. A few women glanced at Nephenee and then started murmuring and giggling behind their hands, gesturing to her revealing cloths and the scimitars on her back. Nephenee growled and went to confront them, but Colin caught her arm.

"They're not worth it," he murmured under his breath to her.

Nephenee shook off his grip. "They are cowards. They act as though they have never seen a warrior before. Surely they have seen soldiers."

"Nephenee, in Hyrule, women don't fight," Colin said softly.

"That is illogical. Why prevent half an entire race from fighting?"

"Nephi, if I explain it to you, you're just going to get mad."

Nephenee suddenly stopped walking, an odd look on her face. "What did you call me?"

Colin stopped as well. Link glanced back at them. Colin rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Well, Nephenee's kind of hard to pronounce. So I sort of gave you a nickname—Nephi. If you don't like it, that's fine—"

"No!" Nephenee interrupted, an odd look on her face. "No, it is okay. It is just . . . that is what Nabooru used to call me." Nephenee dropped her eyes to the ground and stared at the cobblestones with an intensity that bordered on obsession. Having Colin use her old nickname was like a smack in the face—but for some reason, she didn't mind being called it. It was like a comforting part of her past—a past that wasn't totally lost to her.

"Nabooru . . ." Colin mused. He had heard that name before . . . "Wait, your friend from the Resistance in your tribe?"

"Clan," Nephenee corrected automatically. "And she was my Oath-Sister. The king has her held captive right now." Nephenee paused as she looked back up at Colin's soft eyes and gave a sad smile. "She was my best friend. I should have stayed there and protected her."

Colin didn't seem to know what to say, so he simply placed a hand on Nephenee's bare shoulder and she shuddered at the touch. Physical contact was common in the Gerudo, who were a very open race. But part of Nephenee's brain recognized that she hadn't been close to someone since her banishment other than Link. Another part of her mind was hyperaware that Colin was a man, and not one of her sisters.

"You made the right choice and you shouldn't be ashamed for that." It was not Colin who had spoken. Rather, it was Link, who was a few feet in front of them watched them over his shoulder, probably having heard the entire conversation.

"Yeah, he's right, Nephi," Colin said with a smile. "You're trying to fix it, aren't you? That's the important thing."

Nephenee blushed for a moment at the sudden praise before hitting Colin hard on the shoulder. "Get off me, you fool," she said with a smile on her face.

Link rolled his eyes while Colin cried injustice.

Did Castle Town ever change? There was still the same hustle and bustle as always, as people walked through the square while others lingered at the edge of the stone fountain, gossiping and doing their laundry in the fresh water that was pumped their every day. As Link wandered through the town, he couldn't help but feel that he was three years younger, the same sword and shield on his back, the same tunic on his shoulders, Midna whispering in the shadows that he shouldn't change into a wolf in Castle Town to avoid scaring the townspeople.

Back then, Hyrule had been in the Twilight War.

Even now, he could see the portal above the east gate of Castle Town. Its blocky black shapes and blue symbols glowed even in the midday sun. Link could sense Midna's magic from here. A small smile graced his features. Of all the remnants of the Twilight War, Link was glad that the portals had remained. They were a reminder of Midna's presence in this world of Light, and they brought back memories of the small imp every time that Link saw them.

For the first few nights in the Sacred Grove after he had left, he would sit in the middle of the Triforce on the ground, the two Temple Guardians on either side of him, and stare up at the portal in the sky. It was Link's reminder that he couldn't go back. That he had to keep going, no matter how hard it seemed.

Colin and Nephenee's bickering reached his ears. They were a lot louder than his previous companions—Midna and Epona. Link wasn't sure if that was a bad thing or not.

Something caught Link's eye.

Of everything that hadn't changed over the past few years, something had. In a secluded corner of the square, half-hidden by the shadows of a large statue, two figures seemed to be having a heated conversation—or a very docile argument. Normally, Link wouldn't care about the affairs of people that he didn't know—that was their business. But then Link caught sight of the symbol on their uniforms. The crying red eye.

The two figures were Sheikah.

They had hidden themselves well, but little escaped Link's eye. Motioning behind him for Colin and Nephenee to be quiet, he walked easily towards the Sheikah, careful to relax his presence. It was so simple for him to exude killing intent or the confidence of a Hero, which would alert them to his presence immediately. He stifled his own aura as he approached them. What truly surprised him was the way that the two behind him acted. While they had been bickering earlier, Nephenee was silent and relaxed as she walked to the left side of Link, although her hand was rested on her shoulder, only inches away from the hilt of her blade. Colin glanced at Nephenee and Link carefully before slowly following Link's line of sight, resting on the two Sheikah.

As Link approached, he noticed that neither of them was the woman that Link had seen in Ordon Village. One of them was taller than the other, but both wore the same head mask that resembled bandages and covered all of their faces other than a strip of skin around the eyes and some loose hair. One was blond while the other's hair was jet black. While they argued, red eyes met determined green as they talked heatedly. While the shorter blonde haired Sheikah wore a blue combat suit with the clan symbol on the chest, the other one had a black suit with the Sheikah symbol tied around his left forearm like a badge.

For some reason, Link felt like he . . . knew the shorter man. Perhaps it was a townsperson Link had known on his adventures? Someone who had been recently added to the Sheikah?

As the trio moved closer, bits of the conversation drifted across the wind.

"I'm not sure how long we have . . . protection's questionable . . . Tempa . . . Daime's stirring up trouble . . . Yes, I know but . . . move them . . ."

When Link got a certain distance to the shadowed clan members, their eyes jolted to him and his two companions. It was only there for a second, but Link did see the flash of recognition in the smaller man's eyes. Link was right—he did know him.

With a short, murmured sentence to the other man, the blonde raised a hand in front of his chest for a moment before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

His companion only sighed as he vanished. The Sheikah dragged a hand over the back of his neck roughly before glancing over at Link and his companions with a weary look.

"You're Link, aren't you?" The Sheikah asked softly. As he spoke, he realized that the man was younger that Link had once thought, perhaps only a year or two older than himself.

"And if I am?" Link responded casually, his hand ready to grip his sword. As if sensing Link's caution, Nephenee's hand moved to her scimitar hilt and Colin looked ready to draw his shield at any moment.

The Sheikah waved a hand absently. "No need to get upset. We have been told that you would be coming by the princess. My name's Ren. I'm one of the Sheikah currently stationed in Caste Town."

Colin and Nephenee relaxed, but Link kept up his guard. Princess's personal force or not, Link didn't trust that easily.

"Is Princess Zelda in the castle?" Link asked abruptly.

Ren seemed a bit bewildered and cautious as he answered. "Yes, she is. She's aware that you are here."

Link nodded. "Good. Then she won't be surprised when I come and see her." Link turned on his heel and moved across the square to the castle.

"Wait." When Ren issued the command, his voice was monotone, even as he shouted out. Sheikah blocked all emotions, it would seem. "What business do you have with the princess?"

Link glanced over his shoulder and caught Ren's eye. For a moment the two of them simply stood there, their eyes hardened and cold. Colin and Nephenee watched in confusion. It seemed as though the two of them were ready to draw blades at any moment.

Then Link gave a small smile and Ren nodded in acknowledgement.

Having come to a silent agreement, Link once again headed to the castle gates. Calling over his shoulder, he said, "Colin, Nephenee, stay with Ren. I'll be back soon."

His smile disappeared as he glanced up towards the imposing figure that was Hyrule Castle. "I have an appointment with the princess."

* * *

Nephenee sat down on the rough bricks of the roads and pulled out one of her blades, dragging a shining cloth over it. Colin and Ren remained standing while they watched the young Gerudo girl dragging the white fabric over her swords, ignorant to the stares that she got from the townspeople.

She glanced up at Colin, who was staring at her in disbelief. "What are you looking at, Colin?"

"You truly do make no effort to fit in, do you?" Colin said exasperated.

Nephenee only shrugged before glancing over at the Sheikah, who was now leaning against the wall and watching them with careful eyes. She pointed at him with her freshly cleaned blade. "I guess that it is time for introductions. I am Nephenee. That is Colin. We are the companions of Link."

"Like I said before, I'm Ren. I'm a Sheikah."

Colin sat down next to Nephenee and sighed before pulling out his own blade. He was pretty certain that there was some caked blood on it from the Ordon Village battle. Wordlessly, Nephenee threw her cleaning cloth over at him. "Yeah, that doesn't clear much up for us. Unlike Link, we weren't born with the inane sense to know everything. What are the Sheikah? And what was with that staring contest that you and Link had?"

"It was an acknowledgement of skill," Ren said softly as he crossed his arms over his chest. Nephenee glanced over at him. Maybe it was the face-mask, but she was truly beginning to get the feeling that he had no emotions. In the Gerudo, everyone was very open with their feelings. Colin was like an open book. And even Link, who acted stoic much of the time, had passions and feelings that came out often.

"I know that he won't hurt the princess," Ren continued, "and he recognizes that I mean him no immediate harm. Which is probably why he left the two of you here with me."

"Yeah, but that's the question," Colin said carefully. "Are we watching you, or are you watching us?"

"I'm a Sheikah. It's my job to always be on watch."

"What is this 'Sheikah?'" Nephenee asked. "I do not believe that I have heard the phrase before."

"You're a Gerudo, aren't you?" Ren asked as he watched the tanned girl.

Nephenee stiffened. "Yes, I am a member of the Gerudo. But very few Hylians know of us. How do you?"

Ren seemed to be fighting an internal battle inside himself, although it was difficult to tell with his emotion-hiding mask. "Well, you already know that I'm a Sheikah, so it can't hurt." He paused. "The Sheikah clan are the protectors of Hyrule. We answer directly to the princess and no one else. We provide various services to the crown—spies, ambassadors, bodyguards, covert operations and –occasionally—assassins. I was the Sheikah who watched your clan when we decided that you were a threat to the safety of Hyrule."

"You were the spy?" Nephenee mused. "Nabooru warned us that we were being followed."

"Anyway, how did you know that Link was coming?" Colin asked as he moved the rag across the blade, scratching off the dried blood and dirt.

"Link came into contact with one of my clan members who was asked to find him," Ren said without hesitation. "She arrived back here last night with warnings of his coming."

Both Nephenee and Colin paused their actions. Nephenee was the first to speak. "You mean that there was a highly trained warrior within the village during the battle?" Her voice was cold. "Why did she not help us while fighting we fought my sisters? Why did she not fight with us?"

Colin gripped the hilt of his blade and was prepared to attack at any moment.

Ren raised his hands in a gesture of innocence and motioned for Colin and Nephenee to relax. "Calm down. We're not soldiers. While the Sheikah can fight, we are not allowed to without direct consent of the crown. More than anything else, we follow orders. Since the princess told us not to get involved, we don't get involved. We are honor-bound to her orders."

Nephenee and Colin had no response to his words. Perhaps it was his tone that led to Nephenee asking him briskly, "How old are you exactly?"

Ren looked confused by the question. "I'm twenty-one. Why do you ask?"

"You do not seem like it."

A shadow fell across Ren's face. "The Sheikah can do that to a person."

* * *

Link wasn't surprised when the guards stopped him from entering the castle. However, he was certain that they were surprised when he decided to knock them both unconscious and head there himself. He had saved his castle from Twilight and destruction three years ago. He was allowed certain privileges. And the washed-up fighters that they now called the soldiers of Hyrule couldn't do a thing to stop him. Not then, not now.

Link was a bit disappointed when he discovered just how weak Hyrule had become. It was his duty to protect this nation, after all, but Hyrule couldn't even protect himself. Actually, Link had a feeling that they would rather fight each other and erupt into civil war than prepare themselves to fight an outside force. For what he got out of the fights between Zelda and the council, that seemed like a more likely possibility.

Link, being the master of stealth that he was, would have liked to say that he had the patience to sneak in and be subtle about it. But, currently, he wasn't in a very patient mood. So he forced open the castle gates with one hand and ignored that shout of "You don't have the clearance to enter the castle! Oi!"

He knew his way around. He had spent nearly four days in the castle, killing monsters, facing off against King Bulbin, figuring out that goddess-awful mystery at the graveyard. That alone had taken him nearly a day. The castle wasn't a dungeon, but it was definitely built like one.

And then he killed Ganondorf.

Who seemed to have, coincidentally, come back to life.

Sometimes Link thought that world hated him. But no, he knew better. Only certain parts of world hated him.

But as he walked through the grand oak doors and his boots scuffed up the marble floors, Link didn't need a map. He recognized the torches and the ornate chandeliers and the annoying painting. And he knew that if he was in his wolf form, he would see the ghost-soldiers wandering around.

Those were real warriors, unlike the two men who assaulted him as soon as he walked into the castle. Link wasn't gentle with them and he was pretty certain that he had left once of them with his head stuck in a suit of armor. And he hadn't even had to use his sword. Pathetic.

Part of him felt bad for the men. But the more logical part of him knew that they needed to be prepared for the fight that was coming and despaired because he knew that they wouldn't be ready.

No Sheikah came to stop him. Ren was right—the princess knew that he was coming.

As Link walked through the ornate hallways, he found them surprisingly empty. But it didn't matter. He knew where the princess would be. The same place she had been when Zelda was a puppet and Link was fighting for his life against Ganondorf. Ganondorf . . .

That was it. Link needed answers. Questions had been buzzing around in his head all day and it hadn't gotten any better.

As he approached the carved wooden doors that lead into the great hall, he couldn't help but be reminded what the door looked like with the large ornate lock—one that he broke open. Link knew every inch of this castle—from its dungeons, to its graveyards, to its roofs. The only thing that was different was the fact that now there were actual people here.

An old man who was walking up to the hall as well called out to him. "Young man! You can't go it there! There's a council meeting—"

Link ignored them as he forced the doors open.

The hall was exactly as he remembered it. Well, they had fixed all of the marble pillars that he had crushed when he was throwing Beast Ganon around like a rag doll. That was the only noticeable structural difference.

Link's footsteps echoed through the walls, as the room seemed to have fallen silent as the green-clad youth approached. Guards that lined the walls readied their spears. They seemed to be more well-trained than the others that he had seen around the castle. If they attacked, Link might actually have to work hard.

What drew his attention was the half-circle of chairs that were situated in front of the golden throne beneath the Triforce, which was noticeably empty. _Princess _Zelda was still unable to take the throne it seemed.

Zelda herself sat in a decorated chair, on the tier below the throne that she should have been sitting it. She seemed a bit put out to see Link there, with a touch of desperate relief thrown in there as well. But she masked all of her emotions quickly, placing the cold façade of the princess back on her face quickly.

The princess was adorned in a white gown with billowy sleeves. Instead of the jewels that she normally wore to announce her royal status, she just had a silver circlet accented with diamonds. Her brown hair was unbound. She looked like a delicate flower, a poised noble of the court, but Link saw the fire in her eyes. The fire that said "If you do something stupid, I will pin you to the marble with my light bow."

Link walked up and leaned against the chair of one of the council members, scaring him out of his wits. As the man wrung his wrinkled hands, Link propped his elbow on the top of the chair.

"Well, you don't seem happy to see me, Princess," Link said softly, the emotion drained from his voice. He could have been hugging her or telling her off—nothing was given away in his voice.

Zelda glanced at him with her blue-gray eyes. "I don't think that we parted on the best of terms, Hero of Twilight."

"Indeed we didn't."

The council began glancing to each other and murmuring among themselves, but neither Link nor Zelda moved from their staring contest.

"I have questions for you," Link said carefully. "As I'm sure that your watchdog has reported to you."

"Watchdog?" For a moment, confusion slipped onto Zelda's face, making her seem younger than she was. "Oh, you must mean Kukiel."

"Ahem."

Zelda's ice cold eyes latched onto the person who had spoken, a blond haired man younger than the rest of the council with soft hands and devious eyes.

"Yes, Shen?" The princess's voice could have frozen ice.

"I was wondering if you and this . . . hero . . . would like to speak in private," his voice full of a sneer.

Before he could say anything else, Link cut him off. "Why yes, how nice of you to suggest such a thing. If you and your council would leave for a few moments, I'm sure that the princess and I can settle our differences."

Shen made a face akin to a gasping fish before he pulled himself together and stormed out of the throne room with a swish of his cloak. But not before giving Link a glare that would have frightened small children. The other council members followed at slower paces. Link didn't glance at any of them, although he could feel their stares boring into his back. One of the men shot a smile at Zelda and she graciously returned it, the light in her eyes as real as the sun.

When the council members were gone, Link turned back to Zelda. "You should probably have the guards leave as well."

Zelda iced him with a perfect glare. "I trust my guards with my life. And as much as you are one of those Chosen by the goddesses, I don't know you, and I would rather not being alone with only you and your sword."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"

"You of all people should understand the need for caution and safety."

Link chuckled. "I will concede that point. I get that things haven't really been civil between us, but I hope you know that we are on the same side. We fought Ganondorf together. You saved Midna's life. I saved your kingdom. Surely we don't have to pretend to be enemies."

Zelda stiffened but her eyes softened. "You abandoned Hyrule in its time of need."

"I've always been watching silently. I was never far away. If you truly needed me, I would have been there. Which is the same reason that I'm here now."

Zelda gave a small smile. They weren't friends—not by a long shot—but they had moved one step in the right direction. They were the Hero and the Princess. For the sake of Hyrule, they couldn't be enemies.

"Shall we bury the hatchet then, so to speak?"

Link shrugged. "I understand you animosity. In return, try to understand mine. We are both good people fighting for the same just cause. We butt heads because of our differences, but we should fight on the same side. And that means that we should have a decent working relationship between the two of us."

Zelda weaved her fingers together in her lap. "I agree. We are not foes. We should work together."

Strangely, neither of them felt truly comfortable with the way that the conversation was going. They hadn't seen each other for three years, when they parted in bad circumstances, fighting the battle of freedom versus loyalty. Even before that, during the Twilight War, neither had known the other well. They had been nothing more than acquaintances fighting for the same cause. There was mutual trust and respect between the two of them, but that was as far as the relationship went. Zelda didn't know what to say and Link seemed to prefer silence.

Zelda cleared her throat. "Why did you come?"

Link spared no time for ceremony as he gave Zelda the news.

"Ganondorf has come back to life."

To Link's surprise, Zelda didn't react. She only nodded and said, "The sages told me as much."

Link remained emotionless in spite of the revelation. "Then what do you know?"

"Very little. The Sages were vague in their letter. I'm sure that you're already aware of the Gerudo and their threat to Hyrule. Unfortunately I have a war to prepare, so I can't go seeking answers." She gave a small subtle glance. "I have, however, placed the Sages under Sheikah protection. They currently rest inside the Sheikah Tunnels."

"I'm not familiar with that place. Where is it?"

For a moment, Zelda looked like she was about to say something but then she glued her mouth shut. Through gritted teeth she said, "I can't tell you."

Link cocked eyebrow. "Why not?"

Zelda sighed in frustration. "Some oaths go beyond even me."

Link crossed his arms. "So you can't help me."

"Unfortunately not. However, if you think about it, I'm sure that you'll come to the right conclusion." Zelda's eyes were flashing once more as if she was trying to give him a hint. The gesture was not lost on Link.

Link turned on his heel. If Zelda didn't have the answers that he sought, there was no reason to remain there. "You give me far too much credit, Princess." He paused for a moment. "Thank you for what you've done. Not just now, but for all the years that I wasn't here. I hate to say it, but I owe you a favor or two."

As Link walked out of the grand wooden door once more, he heard Zelda's soft response.

She sighed softly. Her eyes looked years older than she actually was. "Good luck, Link. I hate to say it, but you're going to need it."


	15. Ch 14: Blood-Soaked Sand

**A/N: I'm really sorry that I didn't update yesterday. However, in my defense, my schedule got shifted around and I didn't get home to my laptop until after midnight. So, it was Wednesday anyway. It's a weak defense and I really hope all of you won't be mad at me. It wasn't intentional, I promise. And I'm still really sorry! Please try to understand. I'm sure that everyone's had those days. **

**In lighter news, this story reached over 10,000 hits last week! Yay! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign _

_Chapter Fourteen: Blood-Soaked Sand_

Water was dumped coldly on the ground.

Ilia scrambled to grab the pot that she had dropped. No—the pot that had been knocked out of her hands. She turned around and growled at her attacker, her lips pulled back in a snarl.

Her green eyes were met with the sight of Ishizu, laughing nasally at Ilia's expense. She clenched her teeth and almost let out a feral growl. Ishizu only laughed harder at her glare, the gold earrings jingling as they touched her tanned neck. Her blade was on her hip and her mark was shining in the pale sunlight, its black lines standing out strongly to Ilia. Ilia had no doubt that she would have jumped Ishizu if it hadn't been for those things. And the fact that her life was meaningless to these people.

"Oh, sorry," Ishizu said in mock repentance, her rough Hylian grating on Ilia's ears. "I just wasn't watching where I was going."

"A pretty sorry trait for someone who claims to be the leader of the twelve!" Ilia heard herself retort back. She knew little Gerudo, although she had picked up a few phrases, so she shouted the insult in Hylian. What was she doing? This woman could crush her in seconds without even trying and then wouldn't even feel bad about it.

Ishizu growled for a moment, her golden eyes wild. But then she forced her muscles to relax and smiled hauntingly at the girl. "Oh, so the little kitten has claws? But everyone knows that you don't have what it takes to be a Gerudo. You're weak." Her last words came out as a hiss.

Ilia was about to retort that she didn't want to be a Gerudo or have anything to do with their culture, but she reminded herself that she was in the middle of the camp, and many more than just Ishizu would be offended by her comment.

Ilia had been in the Gerudo for a week.

She wasn't chained or locked up in a cell. In actuality, she was encouraged to go and socialize with the rest of the woman. Ilia had to remind herself that they had brought her here to join the Gerudo. They even invited her to join them when they trained, which Ilia had hesitantly accepted. She wasn't really used to fighting. Every time that she pulled out her dagger, she remembered the woman that she had killed when she was protecting Colin.

She learned quickly that everything wasn't as it seemed. Despite the Gerudo's lax attitude towards her, she was still not one of them. Ilia could sense the eyes that always drilled into her back. She could tell that they weren't going to let her go.

No matter what they said, she was still their prisoner.

In her short week in the Gerudo, she had learned one thing: be strong. Strength seemed to be the only thing valued in the Gerudo, and she had learned that quickly. When she was knocked down, she didn't say that she was sorry. Ilia had to get up and demand why they knocked her over. When she lost a fight, she had to demand a rematch. When her captors asked for water, she didn't expect a thank-you and she didn't respond with a you're-welcome.

These were the Gerudo. And while they no longer lingered in the desert, it was clear that they were the tough sort of people. And if Ilia wanted to survive her—if she ever wanted to see Fado and her father and all of the other villagers—then she would have to become tough as well.

It went against everything in her nature, but Ilia began hardening herself. She began to snap back when Ishizu would trip her or when one of her lackeys would laugh behind her back. She wasn't strong enough to be an actual threat, but she was no longer a push-over.

She would do what she had to.

The women had made their camp in the middle of a dry forest, somewhere to the south of Ordon Village, but north of the mountains. Or perhaps it was west? Ilia didn't know. She had been blindfolded the entire way to the camp, and even if she could see, Ilia had never been trained to track or to find her way through the forest. She was a simple farm girl who was trying to live a simple life with her husband.

Somehow, being surrounded by trees helped to calm her. Although there was coarse ground beneath her feet and the trees were different from the strong oaks that grew in Ordon, the greenery calmed. She had no idea what she would do if she found out that she had been taken to some far away desert. At least here she could watch the wildlife and see the stars through twisted branches.

Other than training and eating with the other women, Ilia mainly did chores. Work was shared within the Gerudo, but it was also determined by rank. Since Ilia was the youngest of her "sisters" she was assigned the most work. To toughen her up, she supposed.

At the moment, she had been transferring water through the camp, giving it to the soldiers and dragging it up from the stream. She had almost been done when Ishizu had tripped her. Now the pot was broken and she would never finish. And then Ilia would be punished for slacking off on her work.

When Ilia recognized that little spark of anger in her chest as she looked at the older woman, she fed it fuel and tried to make it burn, despite it being her nature to release it and let it go.

As she reached down and touched the shattered ceramic pieces, she pulled her lips back in a snarl.

Ilia was about to make another quip towards Ishizu when a voice called out behind her.

"Ilia! What's going on here?" The accent of the voice was smooth Hylian.

Ilia glanced behind her with curious green eyes when she saw a Gerudo woman running up next to her. She had two scimitars on her back, rather than on her waist like the others of the clan. On her arm were the same twisting spirals that adorned Ishizu's, marking her as another one of the twelve, of the Marked. Her long red hair that almost reached the small of her back was tied up in a high ponytail and she had small golden teardrops hanging from her tanned ears. This woman looked to be about twenty or so, around Ilia's age. She was bulkier than Ishizu or Ilia, but most of it was muscle mass and no one could say that the woman was anything less than beautiful. She had a great figured and her baggy pants and the tight strip of purple cloth across her breasts only accented that.

Ilia breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn't going to be gutted today. "Nabooru!"

The Marked smiled at Ilia before turning to glare at Ishizu. "So what's going on here?"

Ishizu gritted her teeth and said nothing, turning away from the two of them with a huff. Nabooru only smirked before grabbing Ilia's hand and dragging her away from the scene, leaving the shards of the broken pot there.

* * *

Nabooru was the one who captured Ilia. She was also the first one that Ilia woke up to once she had regained consciousness. As Ilia tried to scream, Nabooru shoved a hand against her mouth and explained about why she was here—and why she shouldn't fear Nabooru.

Ilia was told about a king who was waging war against Hyrule, the leader of the Gerudo. She was told about a failed resistance movement and the mentions of Nabooru's imprisonment. She was told a lot about Nephenee, a girl called Nabooru's right hand, while Nabooru had a wistful look on her face. She was told about her disappearance and the regret that Nabooru felt about forcing her best friend and Oath-Sister to become a traitor.

Ilia was told about how Nabooru, the leader of the resistance and one of the legendary Marked was imprisoned and tortured until she finally swore allegiance to the king once more. She had been released from her cell just before the battle. She was given a chance to prove her new loyalty, to show that she had changed. She was under only one order from the king to capture one of the villagers—the girl with short chestnut brown hair. She was to be used as leverage against a young boy—a Hero with an age-old legacy.

She was told about how Nabooru couldn't allow her to leave the camp—Ilia would die before she got far in the woods—but that she would protect the young girl with her life while she lived and became stronger within the Gerudo.

"Why would you help me?" Ilia had asked, frightened and alone, her whispered tones shaking.

"Because I'm not as loyal to the king as everyone would like to believe," Nabooru said with a cunning smile on her face. "Because I've got more than just one plan to topple his reign. Because I don't want to see a young girl die." She had paused there, a sad look on her face. "And because you remind me of Nephenee, and I already lost her."

Ilia didn't know why she trusted Nabooru. As far as she knew, Nabooru could have been lying through her teeth. Perhaps it was her nature, the one that hadn't been completely kicked out by the Gerudo's hard lifestyle. Her nature to trust people. Or maybe it was the look that the powerful Gerudo got on her face when she spoke of the friend that she had once had—Nephenee.

Either way, Ilia could tell that Nabooru had good intentions.

Over the course of the week, Nabooru and Ilia became sort-of friends. Nabooru taught Ilia to actually wield her dagger, saying that she needed a weapon if she ever wanted to survive in this world. Ilia told Nabooru storied about Fado and Link, making sure to avoid anything that could be used against her village. She was trusting, not stupid. Nabooru told about the trouble that she and Nephenee used to get in and out of, about the dung beetle they had stuck in Ishizu's socks and how they had lined the elder's tent with Caras grass, a sort of plant that attracts Guays and Keese.

Whenever Ishizu and Ilia would cross paths, Nabooru would be there to get Ilia out of trouble.

Ilia didn't know what was wrong with Ishizu or what she did to the powerful warrior that made them enemies. Perhaps it was just Ishizu's sadistic nature come to light. But she was making it her job in life to make Ilia's a living hell.

Part of Ilia was scared to death of Ishizu. That part of her wanted to crawl under one of the many boulders that surrounded the Gerudo camp and hide for days. Another part of her wanted to get back at Ishizu for the unwanted torment.

But most of Ilia missed the life that she had once led. Watching Fado herd the goats while she sat on the hillside, playing with the horse grass. Slaving over the stove all night long, seeing the look of joy in Fado's eyes when he tasted her cooking. Sleeping next to her husband in the early morning, evening out her breathing and closing her eyes so that he thought that she was still asleep while he played with the strands of her hair that draped across her neck.

She missed him. She missed Fado more than anything in the world. What was he doing now, without her? Was he looking for her? Did he think that she was dead? Or . . . or . . . was he . . .?

No. Ilia couldn't even think it.

The one thing that she didn't mind was the fact that no one in the Gerudo stared at her scar. Well, they did, but it wasn't the looks of pity or disgust that she normally got. It was simple interest, and it disappeared once Ilia told her story in the broken bits of Gerudo that she knew.

According to Nabooru, scars were a source of pride for the Gerudo. They were a visible reminder of a battle fought and displayed for the entire clan to know of her courage. She even saw a woman who has lost an eye and had brutal burns down the side of her face smile and wave at the young Ordon girl, acting as though they shared a sort of kinship because of their mutual disfiguration. As Ilia allowed her fingers to drag down the cool purple line that was her three-year-old scar—her worst nightmares, her foolish mistake—she only knew one thing.

She would never be proud of it.

* * *

She had been within the Gerudo for a week and a half when things changed.

Over the past few days she had been accepted among the people. Hina, a young girl with a mellow disposition and odd lavender eyes, taught her Gerudo in the morning. Her Hylian accent was flawless—even better than Nabooru's, who had admitted to studying the language for many years during her youth. Nabooru would train her to use her dagger in combat. At long last she was finally able to land a few blows against the ten-year-old Gerudo warriors—although they still beat her in a fight anyway.

Ishizu was still causing trouble. The day before, she had nearly broken Ilia's arm when she tripped her around the campfire. As Nabooru was patching her wrist up, wrapping the coarse bandages around it tightly, she had murmured to Ilia, "Don't take Ishizu personally. She recently discovered that her best friends and partner within the Marked, Risen, didn't return from the mission that she was assigned. Currently, she's willing to kill anything that doesn't bare the Gerudo symbol."

Ilia gave a small smile and thanked Nabooru sincerely.

For the first few days in the Gerudo, Ilia wanted to think all of them savages—heartless, cruel. They had killed the people in her village after all. They had taken her away from the only life that she had ever known. But then she remembered the woman that she had killed in the battle of Ordon Village. Although she felt terrible over the ending of another's life, she didn't regret what she did. Didn't that make her just as bad?

When she saw Nabooru's calm hand guiding her through forms, or Hina telling her about Gerudo language, or Kiln laughing at her tales about Fado, or Hunny saying that she was even prettier with the scar—she just couldn't see them as anything other than human.

Despite the fact that she was their prisoner. Despite the fact that they were invading Hyrule.

Because as far as Nabooru was concerned, that was all the king's fault.

The king, who never left his tent and who she had never seen. She figured that she could go through her entire lifetime without ever setting eyes on him.

Ilia walked through the camp that night and tried to ignore the stares that she felt drilling into her back as she tapped Nabooru on the shoulder. No matter where she seemed to go, she knew that she was being followed.

Nabooru turned to look at her and smiled. Despite the fact that they were the same age, Nabooru had always seemed so much older than Ilia. But now, with a huge smile on her face and laughter in her eyes, Ilia felt like she was seeing a different Nabooru. While she was never shy with her emotions, Ilia had never seen her this happy. Nabooru understandably always seemed to have a weight on her shoulders, bring her down.

"Have you heard, Ilia? I just talked to Claudia, and Nephenee's alive. A traitor and hanging out with Hylians, but alive, and well, and still fighting against the king." Nabooru let out pent up breath. "Oh, it's just so good to finally hear word of her. I was worried sick that she had died out there in the woods."

Ilia smiled at her companion. Ilia knew that she reminded Nabooru of Nephenee, even if it was a loose connection. Nabooru needed a friend who would understand her loss, and Ilia just seemed to be in the right place for that.

"That's great news, Nabooru. Did you hear anything else?" Ilia asked, trying to keep the longing out of her voice. She didn't succeed.

Nabooru's eyes darkened as she shook her head. "I don't know anything about your husband. I'm . . . I'm sure that you miss him terribly, and I'm still sorry that I took you from him."

Despite the deep sorrow that planted inside of her chest, Ilia brushed it off. Be strong. Be a Gerudo. "It's fine."

"No, it's not, and I can see it. I can see your emotion in your eyes." Nabooru said bluntly. Well, she was one of the Gerudo. Everything that they did was blunt.

Before Ilia could respond, Nabooru had stiffened and dragged Ilia off behind one of the tents. Ilia's eyes were curious as she remained silent and leaned over to see what was going on. What had happened that would get Nabooru herself so worked up? She was one of the twelve. As far as Ilia was concerned, she was fearless.

Ilia moved to see Hina walking through the tents, wearily looking over her shoulder and being careful as she treaded through the grass. Silently, she slipped into one of the larger tents that was aglow with the soft light of a lantern.

"Nabooru," Ilia whispered, "what's going on?"

"Those damn fools," Nabooru uttered harshly. "They're going to get themselves killed."

Ilia waited only a few seconds before she asked her question again.

Nabooru cursed under her breath. "It's one of the resistance's meetings. They've got to be the stupidest people alive. They know what's going to happen to them. They know why I pledged my loyalty and gave my pride to the king. This isn't the right time and they're all going to die!" Nabooru hissed.

"The resistance? Wasn't that why you were imprisoned?" Ilia whispered with wide eyes.

"Yes," Nabooru said with a sigh, "and they know it too. I told them to wait. Din dammit! They're all going to die because of their actions."

"Wait . . . why would they die?" Ilia asked softly. The thought of death made her stomach twist.

"The king doesn't like the resistance. Once I pledged my loyalty to him, however fake it was, he assumed that that was the end of it. If he finds out about this—and he will—he'll kill them all."

"All of them?" She said in disbelief, wishing that she had a solid surface to steady herself on. Faces flashed before her eyes, faces that she had learned only recently. Kiln, Lugh, Hina, Frau, and all the others . . . Ilia was suddenly worried for people that she wasn't even close to.

"Well, not all of them," Nabooru admitted as she continued to watch the hut. "Hina's a double agent. She'll be pardoned." Nabooru smiled wickedly. "Of course, she's _my_ double agent, not the king's." The small faded from her face quickly. Nabooru then turned to Ilia like it was her first time seeing the young Ordon girl.

"Go back to your tent. You don't want to be here when all hell breaks loose." Nabooru looked back to the glowing tent, the haunting silhouettes thrown against the fabric of the canvas by the firelight.

"What are you going to do?" Ilia asked cautiously, not completely sure that she wanted an answer.

Nabooru turned her deep golden eyes back to the tent, her irises like molten metal. There was a long pause before she spoke. "I'll wait, and I'll watch."

Cautiously, Ilia turned away, but not before glancing back at Nabooru. Her eyes were as hard as stone and her face showed no emotion. Maybe she had gotten used to the Gerudo's openness concerning feelings, but it was an odd expression on her face. Nabooru had a lot of emotions, and showed them regularly.

But beneath them all, Ilia knew, was this ice cold face that was going to watch the deaths of her supporters.

Ilia felt bile rise in her throat and fought it down.

The logical part of her brain supposed that this was why Nabooru had been the leader of the rebellion: she could charm anyone, even Ilia, into liking her, but beneath it all was the logical hardness that was required of a true leader. She supposed that it was the reason why Nabooru was waiting for her time to strike despite the suffering of her comrades.

Ilia turned away quickly and ran, only to stop and throw up beneath a tree.

They were . . . all going to die.

It took Ilia a while to compose herself and make her way back to her tent. As she shoved herself into the blankets and animal skins, she pulled a pillow over her ears.

Maybe then it would stop the screams that seemed to echo throughout the camp.

She looked around at the other women who shared a tent with her. All of them were awake, watching each other with guarded eyes. Unlike Ilia, they did nothing to stop the cries.

Those people . . . the ones that she had known . . . they were going to die. No. They were dying.

And their sisters didn't block their ears.

As Ilia clenched the pillow tighter to her head and squeezed her eyes shut, she supposed that it was simply another version of the Gerudo way of life.

_Be strong._

The screams didn't stop until dawn.


	16. Ch 15: Shade

**A/N: Okay, here's chapter fifteen. And it's on time! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign _

_Chapter Fifteen: Shade _

Link was not in a good mood when he left Zelda's chamber. Nothing showed on his face, but his soul and mind were frustrated and annoyed. What did she mean, she could tell him where the Sheikah Tunnels were? Now he was going to have to waste more time finding answers by himself and going on the trek to find it.

His footsteps were heavy as he walked back out of the castle. He came across a guard who was nursing a wounded arm. The man practically jumped out of Link's way with fear in his eyes. If Link had been in a better mood he probably would have given the man a nod or an apology, but he was currently busy cursing Ganondorf, the Sages, Zelda, the Goddesses and fate. In that order.

The sun was setting as he walked out of the castle gates and into Castle Town Square. Most of the people in the square were gone except for a few hassled looking mothers washing out small cloths in the fountains and the soldier. One man was going around lighting the lamps with a torch, a bottle of oil at his side.

Link turned to the place where Colin and Nephenee were supposed to be. He was unsurprised to find them there, underneath the archway and in between the pillars. Nephenee and Colin were playing a game with some pebbles that they had found, and by the look on Colin's face, he was losing badly.

"Ah ha! I win again, Colin. That is another three rupees that you owe me."

"Why on earth am I betting on a game that your people invented?" Colin mumbled to himself.

"I do not know, Colin, but you are going to make me rich," Nephenee laughed as she pocketed Colin's money that she had swindled out of him.

What Link was surprised to see was the Sheikah that he had met before was still there, watching the two like a hawk. Ren, he said his name was? He was around Link's age—and had the same type of eyes as him.

Without waiting for invitation, Link moved towards the three of them. Colin noticed him first. "Oh, you're back, Link. How'd it—"

Before even waiting for Colin to finish his sentence, Link swiftly moved in front of both Colin and Nephenee. He grabbed Ren by the throat and pushed him against the carved marble wall with a fierce look on his face.

Nephenee and Colin jolted to their feet. Nephenee had a hand on her scimitars, while Colin had already pulled out the Ordon Sword. But they both looked conflicted, like they weren't sure which of them they were supposed to be supporting.

Ren was up against the marble, and while it must have been uncomfortable, none of it showed on his face. He gave Link a blank look. His feet still touched the ground, but Ren knew that Link could snap his neck at any moment. It was lucky that he had insurance.

"Not bad," Link murmured as he moved slightly away from the Sheikah, although not releasing the grip that he had on the spy's throat.

Ren had one of his many daggers poised against Link's side. Link knew that if he dared to squeeze, Ren would rip out some of his vitals with that knife. Ren could have had more than five seconds to recognize the threat and plan for it. Link gave a wry smile. He could respect a man with that sort of instinct.

"You too," Ren said. "Now, would you mind explaining to me why I am up against the wall, callously looking death in the face?"

Link didn't hesitate in his response. "I need some answers, answers the princess didn't feel willing to give me. You're going to help me."

Ren gritted his teeth. "If the princess has not spoken about it, then you are not meant to know. I will not go against the will of the crown. Sheikah would die for less."

Link didn't know what to say at such short-sighted foolishness. They would give their lives for the princess. He would give his life for Hyrule. He considered his aims the bigger of the two.

"Then explain something to me. I need to know where the Sheikah Tunnels are. Why couldn't the princess tell me where they are?"

Ren's black eyes didn't move from Link's face. "Because some oaths go beyond even her."

"You know, that's what Zelda said. But what oath?"

"Only Blooded members of the Sheikah can reveal where the Sheikah Tunnels are hidden. Not even the crown can supersede that oath. We take that to the death."

Link gave a frustrated sigh. "Are you a Blooded Sheikah, whatever that is?"

Ren's hand, the one that wasn't holding a blade to Link's side, moved. Link stiffened and tightened his grip just a centimeter more. Ren only dragged his fingers down the left side of his face. "Blooding is also known as Earning the Tear. You met one when you were in Ordon Village. Only the members of the Sheikah Clan that have a Tear under their left eye are privy to all of our secrets and can share them with others. The rest of us are sworn to silence."

"Where can I find one of them?"

"All Teared members are gathered in the Tunnels themselves. It's a meeting. Only those who are Teared are allowed to go—which is around ten or twenty members of the Sheikah—and they don't return for three days."

Link dropped Ren suddenly. Ren dropped on his feet lightly and carefully removed the blade from Link's side, once again slipping it up his skin-tight black sleeve.

Colin sheathed his blade once more, his eyes returning to normal size. Link was going to have to teach that kid to expect the unexpected. Of course, he'd probably learn it quick enough hanging around him. Nephenee didn't look very phased, but she did sigh outwardly in relief when Link finally dropped the young Sheikah.

Link glanced back at him and sighed. "You can't help me."

"No, I can't," Ren said slowly. He paused for a moment. "But someone else can. Go to the woman who lives in the ruined village. It's—"

Link cut him off with a shocked look. "You mean Impaz? What does she have to do with anything?"

Most of Ren's face was hidden by his mask, but it was obvious that he was shocked. "You know Impaz? We have no record of that . . ."

"What does Impaz have to do with anything?" Link demanded, his tone low and threatening. Impaz was an innocent old woman. If this clan had hurt her . . . if they had done something to harm that sweet woman who helped lead him to the City in the Sky . . .

Ren's emotions were quickly covered. "Impaz holds special privilege in our clan. She's a direct descendant of the previous chiefs, but she did not wish to join the ranks of the Sheikah. She bears no oath of silence. She can come and go as she pleases."

"So she can help me find them . . ."

"Yes. And since it seems that you know her as well, she might be more lenient in giving you the information."

Link straightened up and nodded, pondering the future. He could arrive in the Hidden Village in two or three hours if he was travelling by himself . . . his eyes flickered over to Colin and Nephenee. With her injuries, which weren't fully healed, it could take them a couple days to get to the village if they were speeding along at breakneck pace.

"Colin, Nephenee."

Both of his companions snapped to attention.

"Stay here. I'll be back by sunset tomorrow. If not, remain here for two more days. After that, head to Kakariko Village and talk to Renaldo. He can point you in the right direction."

Nephenee merely looked confused and insulted by these instructions. When she was about to say something, Colin stopped her.

He nodded to his old mentor. "I understand. Are you going to leave immediately?"

Link nodded. "There's no time to lose."

Colin sighed before fixing Link with a glare—one that Link taught Colin personally. It was odd seeing his own battle glare reflected back on him. "But you had better come back this time. If not, Nephi and I will personally drag you out of whatever hole you're hiding in now."

Link was surprised that yes, he did feel the tiniest twinge of fear as Colin threatened him. The boy had become strong. Link remembered that Colin's birthday was only a few months away. He was going to be a man soon.

"Don't worry. I'll be back soon."

Nephenee nodded. "We will be your eyes and ears while you are gone. But I do agree with Colin. We will very upset and reasonably angry if you do not return to us after your adventure has come to a close. Although this could all be avoided if you would simply allow help . . ."

"No," Link said pointedly. "You're still recovering from the wounds that you received in Ordon Village. You're in no shape to travel, and I can't afford to be slowed down. Colin needs to remain here so that both you have each other's backs."

Nephenee huffed as Natl, played with the long strands of hair that had fallen into her face. Link couldn't help but smile fondly as he watched the young girl and her sprite. There was something ridiculously innocent about her in that moment.

But then she gave him a death stare and he knew that he had been completely wrong in that assumption.

As he turned to leave, his eye flicked back to Ren. Something was wrong here . . .

"Why are you telling me all of this?" Link said suddenly. "I may have threatened you, but as you stated, Sheikah have been killed for going against the will of the princess." He paused. "Or less," he added as an afterthought.

For a long moment, Ren didn't say a word. Nephenee gripped the handle of her sword once more, fearing that the two men would come to blows.

Then Ren shrugged. "Who says that I'm not doing the will of the princess?"

With that, he threw down a deku nut and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Colin and Nephenee looked shocked, while Link just sighed. Sheikah and their exits. He thought that a stealth clan would be a little more subtle.

Link smiled wryly for a moment. "Clever princess," he murmured, turning away from the Castle and heading towards the Western Fields. "You might not be as bad as I thought."

* * *

Ren was sitting at her desk, reading one of her official scrolls that no one other than her should read, when Zelda walked into the room. He was clearing relaxed, but the way that his fingers twitched signaled that he was always ready for a fight. He had removed his head mask, although he still remained in the same Sheikah suit that he always wore. His face was sharp and angular. His skin was pale and sharply accented by the black of his hair and the calculating look in his eyes. Zelda thought that he was very handsome when he didn't hide all of it beneath a mask.

Ren finished reading the scroll and placed into the pile before grabbing another one. Those scrolls were supposed to be handled by the princess only, for no hands but hers to touch. But Ren was there, making himself at home and acting like he didn't have a care in the world.

Zelda didn't mind at all. As she walked into the room, his eyes flicked up at her once and a smile graced his face.

Zelda had her hair up in a tight topknot and had discarded her fancy dress only a few minutes ago along with the small diadem. She was wearing loose pants and a tight shirt with sleeves down to her elbows. She sat on the edge of her own desk and pulled one of her legs up to her chest.

For a while, neither of them talked and the only thing that broke the silence was the shuffling of papers as Ren went through and stamped certain scrolls with the princess's symbol while others got discarded. It was a comfortable silence, one that spoke of companionship and years of history together.

"You know," Ren said suddenly, "I think I like you like this best."

Zelda laughed, her middle-toned voice rough and easy-going. "What? Dressed like a carpenter's son?"

"Yes. Right now you're not Sheik and you're not the princess. You're just Zelda, the little girl who liked to wrestle and shoot arrows and cut her hair with a knife."

Zelda sobered. "If I wasn't the princess, you wouldn't be here right now. I am a princess."

Ren didn't look up from his scrolls. "I never said that I didn't like that part of you as well."

Zelda chuckled. "Yeah, well, you've got different sides to you as well."

"That I do. Right now I'm the side that does your paperwork when you obviously haven't been sleeping for a couple of days."

Zelda touched her cheeks carefully, wondering if she was showing her sleepless nights. Did the entire council know that she was vulnerable?

The gesture wasn't lost on Ren. "Don't worry. You look just as poised as you did last week. But you can't hide things from me. You know that."

"You're extremely informal when you know that there's no one here to overhear you," Zelda mused. "You haven't called me princess once this entire time."

"Don't remind me that I'm a Sheikah right now. I just got through with that little interrogation session with the great Hero. Not fun, Zelda. I was pretty sure that I was going to get my neck snapped at some points," Ren said without emotion, as though he was talking about the weather.

Zelda shrugged. "If I had told him the Castle, someone might have overheard. At least this way he's one step closer to finding them. I'll admit, I'm curious as well."

"Next time, worry about what neck is going to be snapped because of it."

"We both know that that couldn't have happened and you probably had a knife to his throat the whole time."

"To his side, actually. And while your faith in my abilities is flattering, life and death situations do get a little tiresome after a while."

"You're a Sheikah," Zelda pointed out.

"And you're the princess," Ren responded back. "Yet I'm still at your desk, filling out your paperwork and completely ignoring the fact that you're royalty, while you act like a common girl who's dressing up as a boy. And do you know why we're in this situation?"

"Because we've known each other since I was twelve," Zelda responded automatically.

"No, because you really like to slack off on your paperwork."

Zelda wasn't ashamed to admit that she hit him hard for that crack. Zelda paused as she brought her hand back down slowly.

"Do you think that everything's going to work out?"

Ren raised a hand to his bare, pale chin. Ren had always been a handsome man, but that seemed to be accented because he showed so little of himself, as it was usually covered in his head mask.

"Link's strong. The Sheikah are stubborn. They're no way that this can end well."

Zelda paused. Ren shrugged as he set the last piece of parchment down slowly.

"There's going to be blood before any of us get answers."

* * *

Link made good time.

But then again, he always made good time as a wolf. As he walked across the plank bridge, he slipped the Twilight Shard off of his neck silently. He felt his bones creak and the fur shift away. He felt the cloth on his bare skin and the sword that materialized on his back. He felt his tail disappearing and the darkness shifting away, slipping back into the Master Sword.

And each time he transformed, he always felt like the process was slower, that the darkness was harder to rip away from his skin.

Maybe it was just his imagination.

He rather doubted it.

Link pulled himself up into the tunnel that led to the Hidden Village. As he walked through the darkness without a lantern, he reminded himself that he hadn't been the Hidden Village in over three years. It hadn't even crossed his mind until now. He could remember the broken railings and the boarded-up windows, the ruined doors that would creak on their forgotten hinges as the wind blew.

Was Impaz still there?

Impaz had said that her life's work was complete when Link had shown her the Dominion Rod. Which he still had in the magic pouch around his waist. While it had been useful for a time, it was a pretty foolish thing. It wasn't like there was a copious amount of statuary in Hyrule other than the Owl Statues, which were completely useless as a weapon.

Why would Impaz remain, lonely, in a village that barely anyone knew about?

As he exited the tunnel, the first thing that he noticed was the lone Bulbin that was ruffling through the trash. Silently, Link whipped out his Hero's Bow and trained an arrow right between the creature's eyes. It died as soon as he let the arrow fly.

Link had heard the rumors of Bulbins coming back into Hyrule. Had King Bulbin walked out of the deal that he had made with Link? He had been gone three years, and it was understandable. But no matter what, if Bulbins were threatening the people of Hyrule the way that they were during the Twilight War, Link would have words with the grotesque leader.

The second thing that he noticed was that all the cats were gone.

All fifty of them. Vanished.

Link immediately grabbed his sword. Something was wrong.

Link shifted his weight as he walked through the village. There may not have been twenty Bulbins breathing down his neck the way there was last time, but something was wrong. Even the way that the wind kicked up the dust was ominous.

Link whirled around while pulled his sword out of its sheath. When he glanced up he saw that his sword was against the dagger of a middle-aged woman, perhaps in her forties. She was wearing the typical garb of the Sheikah, with their symbol wrapped around her leather-clad shoulder, but her face was unmasked and her long brown hair unbound. If it wasn't for the ice in her eyes and the dagger in her hands, she could have been someone's mother. What attracted Link's attention the most was that on her cheek was a single tattooed Tear.

It was blue. Link had only seen it once before, but he assumed that all of the Sheikah Tears were supposed to be black.

Link brought his blade back but not his guard. The presence of malice was still there. It wasn't this woman, but it remained.

"You must be the Hero," the woman said in a deep voice.

Link nodded shortly.

"Then we must hurry. The princess warned of your coming and the enemy is already—"

Her words were cut off suddenly by the sharp sting of steel. The woman's body had been pierced by a pure black blade. But she had moved before it had struck, so it hit her side instead of her heart. The blood seemed to rain from the wound.

As the blade was ripped out of her, causing even more damage, she crumpled to the ground. Link's eyes widened as he glanced over her in horror. She was still breathing, thank the goddesses. He turned his feral sneer to his opponent. He would not allow an innocent woman to die. Not while he was here.

He stopped short.

It was like looking into a mirror. A dark, twisted mirror. There was a copy of himself standing just across the way, holding a black Master Sword dripping with blood. A malicious sneer curled itself onto Link's own mouth, a feral red burning into Link's eyes. This doppelganger had black skin and wore a black Hero's tunic.

Suddenly, Link was reminded of the vision he had seen in Lanaryu's Spring.

"_HERO OF TIME!" _

Link settled into a stance at the copy's cry. It felt like it was resonating not only in the air, but in his mind as well. It made him freeze up for a second.

As the darker version of himself began to charge forward, there was the twang of an arrow. It imbedded itself in the copy's chest. Sneering, he snapped the shaft in two and pulled the arrow head-out without turning around.

Laughing manically and giving an evil glare in Link's direction, he disappeared in a column of black ash.

Link moved to the woman on the ground, who was possibly already bleeding out, but stopped short. Another presence! Link turned sharply on his heel.

There was a loud thunk and Link toppled over, unconscious.


	17. Ch 16: Interlude

**A/N: This chapter's a little short, but as the title states, it's merely an interlude and it's supposed to be that way. Variety's the spice, anyway, right? Anyway, there was something that I wanted to address: **

**I've gotten a lot of reviews about Link being knocked unconscious. Especially the idea of "he's too strong to be caught off guard by that!" . . . If I remember right, Zant tended to surprise Link . . . a lot. In fact, I'm pretty sure that he could have killed Link in Lanaryu Shrine after Lakebed Temple . . . Link's not some almighty god. And at the moment, he was very concerned with getting the Sheikah woman to safety, more than he was paying attention to anyone else. And I did INTENTIONALLY leave the situation of him being knocked out vague. **

**Looking back on it, my rant seemed kind of mean. But it's not meant to come off like that. I'm just trying to explain my logic. I'm not trying to be judgemental or anything. I just want to explain where I'm coming from. **

**Another thing I wanted to mention: I got a review about Zelda's gender when she's Sheik. She's still a girl. She doesn't have any cross-gender transformations. I refer to her with male pronouns when she's a guy usually because I'm writing in a POV that doesn't know that she's a girl (like Link's and Colin's). They don't know she's a girl, so they consider her to be a guy.**

**Anyway, I want to thank you all for the reviews. I hit 150 over the past week! Thank you all!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Sixteen: Interlude_

"Yes! It seems I win again, Colin!"

After three hours of playing this game, Colin's wallet was noticeable lighter and Nephenee was happy. That was the real reason that he kept playing even though he continually lost. Women still walked by and giggled into their hands about Nephenee's scimitars and her bare shoulders. They pointed at the way that she carried herself and how nearly all of her stomach was exposed to the air.

Link had been gone for nearly two days. The two of them had found refuge during the night in a clearing with an ungodly number of cats. The ground was soft and there was a nice tree off to one side, so Colin really didn't have the right to complain.

Link's deadline had passed a few hours ago. Colin wasn't sure if they should head out to Kakariko Village now or later and he didn't want to leave Castle Town until he was certain that Link wouldn't be coming back. If Link came back to Castle Town and they weren't there . . . there was no guarantee that they would be able to find the green-clad hero again. And after three years of thinking that his mentor was suspended within the borders of life and death, he didn't want to go through that again.

They were still perched in that clearing and they were playing the game that Nephenee had taught him. She said that it was called "Desert's Will" and that it was very popular among the children who hadn't yet hit their ranking day, whatever that was.

She failed to mention that she was a frigging genius at the game.

Colin sighed and shook his head. "If we keep this up, I'm going to be sleeping in the gutters."

"You mean that we are not already?" Nephenee said with a smile on her face.

Colin looked around at the washed up courtyard that they were in. It wasn't the nicest place. In actuality, all of Castle Town wasn't the nicest place. It was a thriving city to be sure and there were more people who wandered through the southern half of the city than Colin had seen in his entire life, but it definitely was the jaded version that he had thought it was. The people were terribly shallow and disillusioned, and the city itself wasn't the cleanest place. Colin didn't really know what to think as his childish fascination with the "big city" came crashing at his feet. Now that he was actually here, he was completely convinced the Ordon was a much nicer place to live.

Nephenee glanced over at Colin. "What is wrong? Are you worried about Link?"

Not realizing that he had been spacing out, he shook his head and looked over at his Gerudo companion. "No. I mean, it's Link. He's the strongest person that I know."

Nephenee sighed and leaned against the barren tree. "Colin, Nabooru is the strongest person that I know, and she is being held captive by our king. Link is strong, and powerful, and clever, but he is not invincible. He can be harmed like all other men."

"Link . . ."

"Before you go any further, Colin, think about it. Link is strong—abnormally strong. He is the strongest man I have ever met, perhaps even stronger than Nabooru. But he has his moments of distraction and weakness—especially when someone's life is at risk."

Colin immediately thought back to Ordon Village, when Link had been shoved into the side of Fado's house. The distracted look in his eyes when Nephenee had been cut down by Ishizu.

"And besides, not all men are as honorable as you and I. What about poison or a blow from behind? Or magic? Link is a strong swordsman, but he is no magician. I am not saying that Link is not the strongest—as far as I have seen, that is true. I am simply saying that others are strong as well."

Colin hesitated. Part of his pride was broken from being lectured by a girl who wanted to maul innocent gossipers, but he knew that she was right. Link, however strong, was mortal.

"What are you trying to say, Nephi?"

Nephenee scattered the pebbles that they had been using to play the game.

"I'm saying that we should go after him."

"Well, then."

Both Nephenee and Colin started at the voice that had answered them. Leaning against the wall like he had been there the whole time was a Sheikah in a skintight black bodysuit. The crying red eye was pinned on his shoulder. His face was sharp and angular. He had deep black hair and cold calculating eyes.

It was the eyes that alerted Nephenee.

"Ren?" She asked cautiously.

The Sheikah sighed. "No one recognizes me without the head mask. You would think that it was attached to my face or something."

Both Colin and Nephenee relaxed. Although the last meeting between them was Ren up against a wall with Link's hand at his throat, Colin didn't feel threatened by the Sheikah. The three of them had spent quality time together while Link was man-handling his way into Zelda's throne room.

Colin released his hand from his blade. "Ren? What are you doing here?"

Ren shrugged and moved away from the wall. He gave the two of them a sly smile.

"If you're going after Link, you're going to need my help."

* * *

Zelda was immersed in scrolls when the message arrived.

The princess didn't seem to have much luck when it came to messages. After the one that was delivered by the Sages, everything that had been delivered was bad news.

The Sages' letter . . . Zelda looked at it often. And every time that she stared at the parchment, she expected something other than the careful, vague script on the page. There were phrases like "that old evil" and the "reincarnated Hero" sprinkled with the names of Link, Zelda and Ganondorf. What Zelda had gotten out of it was that Ganondorf had been revived and that they needed Link to return as soon as possible to fight him. And that was exactly what she did. She found Link. But now she had questions.

The Sages were protected by the Sheikah, and not even she could break that protection. It would be a hazard for her to see them anyway, and she didn't want Ganondorf to get a hold of the mystic beings. Besides, Zelda couldn't just up and leave.

Nestor was sitting next to her, scratching down records on a roll of parchment. He glanced up at Zelda. "Are you sure that this is wise, Zely? To have both of your Sheikah gone?"

Zelda dropped the scroll in her fingers, giving it up as a lost cause. "Kukiel can't avoid the Meeting of the Teared. All of the Blooded Sheikah have to go. I couldn't keep her from that."

"But, what about Ren? He's not Teared. There's no reason for him to be gone. You're a princess, Zelda. You could be attacked at any moment." Nestor placed a hand to his white-bearded chin as he continued to write on the scroll, his reading glasses perched precariously on his nose.

"I've got a mission for him. I doubt think that I would trust it to anyone else."

For a moment there was silence. Then Nestor cleared his throat.

"You and Ren are . . . quite close, aren't you?"

Zelda's brow furrowed. "We've been friends since I was twelve, yes. Within the Sheikah, he's the next in line to become my bodyguard. I suppose that, yes, we're close."

Nestor looked uncomfortable as he removed his glasses from his nose. "No, Zely, that's not what I meant."

Realization hit her. Zelda felt her face heat up and wondered if it was physically possible for a person to suppress blushing.

"Oh . . . o-oh we're not like that. I-I mean . . . we're just friends!"

"Zelda, your poker face just lost all respect in my eyes."

Zelda was about to bite back with another retort that NO, she and Ren weren't . . . involved or however you would phrase it delicately, when there was a knock on the door.

With that knock, Zelda straightened her hair and composed her features into an aloof look.

"Enter."

It wasn't a Sheikah, just a normal soldier, but Zelda knew that before he had even walked through the door. Sheikah don't knock. They just barge right in and expect her to have time for them . . . or maybe that was just Ren and Kukiel. She rarely saw other Sheikah in the palace, and they were off duty when she saw them as Sheik.

The soldier bowed before her and held out a scroll he produced somewhere from within his robes.

"A message from King Ralis of the Zora Tribe, Your Highness."

A bitter voice in her mind made her feel the slightest twinge of resentment that they still didn't call her "Your Majesty."

But that bitterness was overwhelmed by curiosity. Zelda held a hand out for the scroll, which the messenger promptly dropped in her hand before politely bowing and dismissing himself.

Why would King Ralis contact her? Of course, Hyrule and the Zora Tribe kept frequent contact, mostly over trade and food supply, as well as the maintaining of Lanaryu Shrine and the rivers. But an urgent scroll? With so many things going on—Ganondorf's return, Link's disappearance and reappearance, the invasion of the Gerudo—the scroll was heavy in her hands, as she knew that it was weighted with foreboding words that she really didn't want to hear.

Zelda broke the seal anyway, trying to ignore the curious look that she got from Nestor.

Her eyes flicked through the looping script quickly (A distracted part of her mind wondered how they could write so neatly with amphibious hands), her hands tightening on the scroll with each line of text that she read.

Goddess, how she hated bad news.

Seeing the grim and almost murderous look on her face, Nestor was hesitant as he asked her what was wrong.

"An attack," Zelda's response was immediate and clipped. "The Gerudo have attacked one of the Zora outposts. The most southern one, quite close to Faron Province. No one was left alive."

Nestor's shock was quickly masked. It wouldn't do well to show weakness in front of the princess. "What are we going to do?"

"Ordon Village was one thing—they aren't technically a part of Hyrule, and as such, not a part of my jurisdiction. It's not technically considered an invasion, so I couldn't declare war. I'd look like a war monger if I summoned our army with just that attack. The council would have spawned discord in seconds. But this is different—a protected Zora Village, directly inside our boundaries, only a few miles away from Zora's River . . ."

Zelda's eyes were cruel and unyielding, looking almost black with the shadows from the setting sun.

"This means war."

* * *

Ordon Village wasn't in best shape. Rain still hadn't fallen since the battle. Eventually, the able-bodied men and women decided that it would have just been easier if they dragged buckets of water out of the creek and splashed them on the blood stains. There was still rubble from Link's impact into the side of Fado's house and Hanch's grave was still fresh ground.

Behind Rusl's house, two men were having an argument in the darkness.

"Bo, you're mad!"

"What's mad about going after my daughter? She was taken once from me while I could do nothing but watch, and I'm not going to stay here like a coward once more. And I won't be going alone. Fado has already agreed to come with me."

"This is suicide. Neither of you are trained fighters—"

"Which is why you should come with me, Rusl."

"I won't leave Kana and Uli behind. This village needs some manner of protection. And since Colin left, and Captain Falnoff headed back to the capital, I'm the only half-decent swordsman left in this village."

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry that your son left, Rusl."

"Don't be," Rusl said sharply from the darkness. "Colin made his choice and he was right to. He chose to follow his master. No one can blame him for that."

"You may not want to go after them, Rusl, but I have to find my daughter. She could be dying at the hands of those savages for all that we know!"

"Bo, be reasonable. Your actions mean nothing if you die."

"Rusl, I will not remain as a coward while my daughter is out there! I had to rely on Link the first time and I won't do that again."

A pause. "I thought that you trusted Link."

"You saw him after he came back to the village two weeks ago . . . he's not the same person that we had known. He didn't leave to go and find Ilia. He left to go to Princess Zelda and tell them about the invasion. He's not going to save her."

" . . . You can't be blaming Link for this . . ."

"Maybe I am."

Rusl sighed. "Come on, Bo. Link has allegiance to more than just this village. He's saving countless more lives by going to Princess Zelda than he would be by chasing after one girl . . . who, I might add, is in the company of an _army._"

"I'm going to go after my little girl, Rusl. If you don't want to come, you don't have to. You can stay here and be a coward."

"I'm not a coward! But I have my own family to protect as well as Sera's! What's going to happen to them if all of the men leave? What if monsters attack the village the way that they did before?"

" . . . You won't help me."

"Bo, be reasonable!"

"I think it's time I head out."

The crunching of footsteps across dirt.

A frustrated sigh.

* * *

Two men left Ordon Village that night. One of them was large, built like a sumo wrestler with the oddest moustache on his face, squinty eyes and a bald head. The other was hardy and broad, but shorter than the other with cropped brown hair and a common face. They both had packs on their backs and makeshift weapons on their sides.

Neither of them knew the first thing about tracking. Or fighting. But they headed out anyway. The two of them chatted conversationally along the way, thinking nothing of their present predicament.

Along the pathway to Ordon Spring, they stopped at the wider, bald one spotted a figure leaning against the rock face of the trail.

"Oi!" Bo shouted. "Who are you?"

The man stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. He was around his mid-thirties in age, which shaggy, bright blond hair and calculating blue eyes. His face had just began to obtain the slightest hint of wrinkles. He was tall, but not abnormally so. He had a long sword and a shield strapped across his back. He wore a tunic of iridescent green and it seemed to glow in the moonlight.

"Link?" Fado asked cautiously. But it couldn't be him. This man was far too old . . . yet looked enough like Link to be an exact copy.

The man chuckled. It was deeper than Link's voice. "I have been called that."

"Why are you here?" Bo asked cautiously.

"You are searching out the girl who has been kidnapped by the Gerudo, correct?" More difference. A slight accent. Different speech patterns. The way that his hands didn't move when he talked.

"And if we are?" Bo retorted.

"Then I would advise you to turn back. If you were to go after her now, you would only cause her death and your own. But rest assured, within the year, she will be returned to you exactly as she was. If you go any further, you cause both her life and her efforts to be forfeit."

His words—this look-a-like's words—were far too much like the words that Rusl had spoken to him.

Fado tapped Bo on the shoulder and whispered to the larger male. "Maybe he's right, Mayor. It makes a lot of sense . . . we ain't fighters, you know . . ."

Bo turned to his far younger companion. "But what about Ilia?"

Fado looked him straight in the eye. "My wife's a strong woman. If we'll only be in her way, we should trust Ilia."

" . . . I guess you're right."

Bo looked up only to see that the man was gone.

* * *

Not gone, exactly.

While the two Ordonians had been conversing, the man had slipped into Ordon Spring. It was nighttime, but the spring glowed softly. The fairies in the spring gathered around him as he walked into the water, some swirling around his feet, others resting on his shoulders.

After he took three steps into the spring, he stopped and waiting. Slowly, as if recognizing his presence, the rocks began to glow with blue-green symbols of an age long past. The water began to glow a clean white light. As the light became almost too bright for him to stand, the man closed his eyes.

When he opened his blue eyes, he was standing in the presence of the goat-shaped Light spirit, Ordona. The glowing translucent ball swirled within the ring of its goat horns. The spirit glanced down at him in surprise.

"_How confusing,"_ the spirit mused softly.

"Indeed it is," the man said carefully, craning his neck to look up at the large spirit.

For a moment the spirit seemed to smile before kneeling down before the man, her head bowed and the bottom of the light sphere just touching the water.

The man smiled softly.

"It's been a long time, Ordona."


	18. Ch 17: Forcing Incentive

**A/N: Thanks for the continued support!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda . . . sad face.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Seventeen: Forcing Incentive _

The castle had always seemed like an empty place to Captain Falnoff.

Half of it was unused space after all. Another portion of it was boarded off after the Twilight War and, although it had been renovated after it had ended, the halls and chambers weren't in use. Many people thought that it was cursed. Falnoff wasn't one for superstitions, but even he felt watched in certain parts of the castle. Like restless ghosts walked there.

It had been a day since he had returned from Ordon Village. His arm still hurt, but it wasn't as obnoxious, almost like someone was dumping lemon juice on a paper cut. Painful, but simple to ignore.

Leaving the village had been a hard thing. Over the past month he had been accepted into the cozy, simply lifestyle that they led there as if he was one of the villagers. But he had a duty to Hyrule, and he would never forget that he was one of the princess's guard. He had loyalty to the crown and only to the crown. So when Zelda called him into the throne room that day, Falnoff walked briskly and promised himself not to be late.

In the twelve years that he had worked as a soldier, he had seen the grand carved doors that led to the throne room all too much.

He opened them carefully and made his way into the throne room.

And into the middle of an argument, apparently.

Guards were lined near the marble pillars which were still an unblemished white, since the broken ones had been replaced a little over two years ago. One of them raised a hand in greeting to Falnoff. These were Zelda's personal guard, and they all knew Captain Falnoff well. The captain gave a small smile. It was nice to see the soldiers once again.

Zelda was sitting in her ornate chair on the tier below the throne. She had a frustrated expression on her face, and one of her hands was rubbing her temple. She was wearing the jewels that represented her crown today, and Falnoff knew that that meant that she needed her full authority. There was also her ceremonial dress as well, decorated with the Triforce and gold furnishings. Something was going to happen. When she looked up and saw the captain, she gave a weary, guarded smile that didn't reach her eyes.

The other two men were not as happy to see him. Actually, they didn't look at the captain at all and carried on their argument. However, the two of them seemed to be on the same side against the princess.

Falnoff recognized both of them. It was hard not to, after all. Like the princess, the two of them were household names.

The one that he recognized first was General Jellas, his commanding officer. The general was built like a tank. Strong, sturdy and powerful. He was a brilliant warrior and he looked the part with the scar down the side of his tanned face and his full brown beard. He had been fighting since before Falnoff had been born, yet didn't show his age. But while he was a great warrior, he wasn't a great commander. He wasn't even a good commander. Under his leadership, the army had grown complacent and weak. Apparently his own policies of fighting were not allowed to be shared to his troops. Falnoff respected the man as his commanding officer, but that was about as far as the respect went. Rumors were told about him: that he was no longer loyal to the crown, that he was working for someone else. Most likely the other man in the room.

The other man was the leader of the council, Shen. He was a soft man who wore robes of the purest white and golden jewelry seven days of the week. A man with careful eyes and white-blond hair that made him look sickly, but everyone knew that he wasn't. He would twist your words around four times in order to get what he wanted, whatever he wanted.

In other words, he was a pain in Zelda's side.

"Princess, you need to reconsider," Shen was saying as Falnoff walked across the marble floors. "You don't have the authority to do this."

"Actually, I do," Zelda said as she sighed and rolled he fingers over her temples. "Even as a princess, I have authority over the armies in cause of impending war. And in case you are a little behind on the times, I declared war two days ago. So, yes, I do have the authority to do this."

"You had no right to declare war!" Shen shouted.

"I have every right to declare war!" Zelda retorted. "Unlike nearly all of my other powers as a princess, that one belongs to me and me alone. Article 16, section 3 of the Right of the Crown clearly states that, in times of invasion, the reigning member of the royal family has the right to declare war, with or without the consent of the council. I may be a princess, but I'm still the last and reigning member of the royal family!"

Shen gritted his teeth and Jellas, who stood behind him, looked worried, although it was hidden behind his thick beard and a scowl.

Zelda continued without waiting for an answer. "And section 4 of that same article says that, in times of war, the crown gains full control of the army. I _am _the crown. Which means that I now have control of our fighting force as well as who leads it!"

"But article 14 says that no changes of authority can be made by a princess without the approval of the council," Shen said triumphantly.

"Then it's a good thing that article 14 section 2 says that in times of great danger to Hyrule, such as _war_, the princess does have the authority to change leadership."

Zelda leaned back in her chair, looking triumphant while Shen gritted his teeth and swept his way out of the throne room, glancing back at the princess and murmuring under his breath.

Zelda sighed. "There's no way that this is going to end well."

Captain Falnoff knelt before the throne, trying to act like he hadn't overheard the end of their argument. Behind him, the great oaken doors were slammed shut as Shen left the throne room. Zelda winced at the sound.

General Jellas still stood there, a picture of poise, but Falnoff saw the scowl hidden beneath his beard.

Zelda rubbed her fingers across her temple once more before motioning for Captain Falnoff to rise. "I'm pretty sure that you heard the end of that, so let's get down to business."

"You called for me, princess?" Falnoff said carefully observing his surroundings. He suddenly noticed that there wasn't a Sheikah hidden behind the throne. As always, that was their favorite hiding place, since it was truly only the proper place to remain out of sight in the long empty throne room. Why wasn't the princess's bodyguard there?

"Yes. It's good to see you again, Captain Falnoff." The princess gave him an honest smile this time, before she sobered. "Although unfortunately your stay in Ordon Village did not go as well as I had hoped. I sent you and the other soldiers there to protect the village from monsters until we could induct them into Hyrule. I never expected a full-out invasion . . ."

"You have heard that my fellow two soldiers have perished, correct?" Falnoff said softly.

"Yes. May the goddesses guide their spirits to rest. However, now is not the time to mourn. We have a war approaching. The Gerudo have crossed Hylian borders. That means that it's an invasion and we have no time to lose."

Falnoff nodded. "I understand, princess. Which unit would you like me to command?"

A small smile played on Zelda's lips. "Why, all of them, of course."

Next to him, Jellas shook with rage. "Princess, I beg you to reconsider—"

"I have reconsidered, and this is still the best course of action. I have received reports of what you have done. You are _not _allowed to use the Hylian royal army as some sort of mercenary company." Jellas gasped while Falnoff flinched. He had known that Jellas was playing under the table, but that was an act of treason.

Her eyes were cold, which was an expression that Falnoff had seen often in the princess's eyes. It usually meant that someone was going to die. "General Jellas, you are hereby stripped of your rank and your authority. Under your leadership the armies of Hyrule have grown weak and complacent. Furthermore, you have been accepting commissions from employers other than the crown and the council. This is considered an act of treason and is reason enough for you to lose your authority. If you wish to remain in my army, you will be court martialed and demoted to Sergeant. You will have to claw back up the ranks on your own merit, not someone else's pocketbook. However, this is the last chance that you will recieve. Anything else, and I will not hesitate to discharge you from the army. Now, do you accept my most generous offer?"

What option did Jellas have except to bow his head and accept her punishment, even if he didn't want it? Jellas could have been killed for such an action.

"You are dismissed." Falnoff could feel the ice crystals in her voice.

It was pathetic to watch the ex-general make his way out of the throne room. Falnoff himself winced when he heard the door close for a second time that evening.

"That was a little harsh, princess," the captain said gently, trying not to incite her hatred further.

"That man is an absolute fool," she said as she slumped back in her chair. "Did he not know that would notice when he began to sell my army to Shen? This is conspiracy in the making. We don't have time for civil war, and it's going to happen if the idiots who call themselves my council continue this folly!"

Captain Falnoff cleared his throat, since the princess seemed to have forgotten that he was there.

Zelda's eyes flicked over at him slowly. She exhaled slowly. "Anyway, there was a reason that I called you here, other than to have you watch while I strip my general of authority. Falnoff, how loyal are you to the crown?"

The captain opened his mouth to speak, but apparently the question was rhetorical, since Zelda continued talking.

"You've been loyal for a long time, for many long years, which is why you're a captain a part of my personal guard. Not Sheikah loyal, but no one could expect you to be. But in these times, even that sort of loyalty is invaluable to me. Would you be loyal even if I placed you in a position that you did not want?"

Was that a trick question? "Of course I would. I would never betray the crown. I took an oath."

"That's good. I need loyal men at my side now more than ever. I've known you for years, Falnoff. I trusted you with my most important issues and you have been my eyes and ears for far too long. You are everything that a soldier of Hyrule should be." Zelda sighed. "I didn't want to put anyone in this position, but I consider you the best for the job. You've completed all of your missions with the dignity of a true warrior and a member of the army of the Hyrule. I'm going to be giving you difficulties, but I pray that you will accept this with pride—I'm promoting you."

Falnoff's dark eyes widened. She couldn't honestly be saying what he thought she was saying?

"Falnoff, I remove you title of captain. From now on, you will be known as General Falnoff, leader and commanding officer of the Hylian army. Normally there would be a ceremony for this sort of thing, but well, we're on the brink of war and honestly don't have time for that. Do you accept the burdens that I have placed on your shoulders?"

Falnoff bowed his head and thanked the goddesses silently. There was determination in his eyes as he looked at his ruler. "I do."

"Then wear your rank with pride." Zelda gave him a wry smile. "We've got a tough road ahead of us."

* * *

"I think we are lost."

"We're not lost."

"We are lost, admit it!"

Colin dragged a hand down his face. This was painful to watch. Nephenee looked ready to gut Ren, and by the way that Ren's hand was twitching, Colin was sure that the feeling was mutual. Something had to be said for that. Nephenee can try even the stoic Ren's patience. That girl has a gift.

"Nephi, just let the man lead," Colin said exasperated. "You're not from Hyrule, so how would you know if we were lost?"

"I have seen that rock before!"

"Nephi, it's Hyrule. There are rocks everywhere. And most of them look alike."

Nephenee grunted and crossed her arms. Natl got off of her master's head and rubbed her wings against Nephenee's cheek playfully. Slowly, a smile grew over the young Gerudo's face while she allowed the fairy to dance around her hands. Colin watched her with a slight smile.

Ren, who was leading them by moonlight through Hyrule Fields, glanced back at the two of them. He glanced between Colin and Nephenee for a while before giving a small smile. He let out a breathy chuckle and turned back.

"Wait! What did that expression mean?" Nephenee demanded, placing the small spirit back on top of her head.

Ren glanced back once more, this time with his face containing no expression. "Nothing. You guys just seem to have a really close relationship, despite only knowing each other for such a short time."

Nephenee glanced over at Colin who seemed to have a sudden interest in his boots. She immediately glanced away from him, feeling her cheeks burn. Both of them knew what Ren had just suggested.

Ren sighed. For a moment he forgot that he was dealing with teenagers. He was so glad that that part of his life was behind him. Relationships were generally forbidden for the Sheikah anyway, unless you had the permission of the Shadow, the clan chief. And there was absolutely no way that Tempa would allow him to do that. The more valuable Sheikah avoided relationships completely. They were loyal to the crown and only to the crown.

Judging by the way that Nephenee and Colin were avoided each other oh-so-subtly, Ren assumed that he wasn't that far off from the mark.

As Ren glanced around once more, he looked back to his companions.

"Both of you, be cautious."

Nephenee glanced up at him and nodded, bringing one hand to the hilt of her curved blades while Colin mimicked her action. At least they could get it together in times of need.

Ren motioned for the two of them to follow him.

"We're approaching the Bridge of Eldin."

* * *

Link had a massive headache as he pulled himself off of the rough earthen floor.

For a moment he was disoriented. Where was he? What was he doing there? And why in the name of the goddesses did his head hurt so bad?

He tried to get to his feet but his world suddenly seemed to be rotated at a ninety-degree angle and he dropped back down to his knees. He shook his head and tried to get rid of the sensation for a few moments before he rummaged through his pouch. Link drowned the bottle of red potion in one gulp. He was pretty sure that he had some blue potion in there as well, but didn't want to waste it on something as simple as a headache.

As the potion removed the mental equivalent of a chisel digging into his brain, memories flooded back to him. He had been . . . knocked out. After he had seen that doppelganger of himself! And that woman, what happened to her?

Link pulled himself to his feet and was grateful when the room stayed right-side up this time. And now that he could see straight, he knew that it was a room. It didn't look like a cell, but it might as well have been one. All four walls were earthen and had small roots sticking out of them. For a brief, paranoid moment he wondered if they were sturdy, but that thought vanished quickly. The only way out (apart from chiseling) was the thick metal door. It had no way for him to open from this side, not even a handle. There was a small vent near the top of the door so that Link could get air, and from that came his meager amount of light. But other than that, he was left in darkness.

As his tanned fingers touched the lump on the back of his head, he lamented the way that he had let his guard down. Being snuck up on wasn't something that he was used to.

Link would admit that he was distracted. After all, he had just seen a black carbon copy of himself. And that Sheikah woman . . . she was bleeding out. Even now, he worried that she was dead. Was she safe, wherever she was? Did the woman get captured by the same people who had taken him? Or was she dead? Like always, his heart twisted at the thought of innocents dying in his fight. Link had always tried to separate his struggles from the people of Hyrule, although his actions affected all.

There was a noise from outside his cell.

Immediately, his hand went to his shoulder, ready to grasp the Master Sword . . . which wasn't there.

Not good.

Without the Master Sword, there was no guarantee that he could keep his transformations in control. Link had never truly tested how long he could stay in human form without it. How long did he have before he turned back into a wolf?

There was another cough from outside the door, followed by the scrapping of a chair against the earthen floor.

_Guards,_ Link thought.

For a long time, Link waited, hoping that he would hear something—anything—that would tell him where he was and why he was taken. But the guards apparently didn't like to break protocol, since neither of them said a word in however long Link waited.

They were well-trained. Definitely not Hylian. And definitely not Gerudo, because the cough had been too low-pitched to be female. Twili? Possibility. Rebel fraction? Likely. Some of Ganondorf's minions? That was the soundest option.

He had been captured by the enemy. Stuck in a cell weaponless. As Link sat cross-legged on the floor, he supposed that all he could do was to wait. They would have to give him food eventually, or else they would have just killed him instead of sticking him in a cell. Whatever jailer came to deliver his meal would most likely be armed, but Link was confident in his hand-to-hand combat.

All there was to do was wait.

A while later, perhaps an hour, perhaps longer, there was the scrapping of metal on the floor and footsteps echoed through the hall outside his cell.

"Shift change," a voice echoed, soft and melodic. Middle-toned. Perhaps female. But carefully worded.

"Of course," a guard outside his cell said at once. There was some shuffling of feet for a moment before a soft thump that indicated that the new guard had taken the old one's chair. That same scrapping of metal echoed through the hallway as the door closed.

For a long time, there was nothing but silence. The new guard didn't seem any more talkative than the other guard, and not even a cough broke the silence.

Link wondered what was going on. There was organization and set order. This clearly was not the work of one man or even a group of people.

After ages, there was a tap on the edge of the door. Link jolted immediately. Had the guard accidentally bumped it? He was being startled by shadows.

"Sheikah Tunnels." The whispered voice of the guard was rough and barely audible, but Link heard it and his eyes widened. Like before, Link could tell nothing from the voice, not even gender. "Awaiting trial. During it, stay silent and speak only when spoken to. The Sheikah do not appreciate wasted words. Think carefully, and ponder before you speak. If you do that, you may survive."

Who was helping him? He was almost certain that he had never heard the voice before. "What crime did I commit?" Link asked quickly.

"Be careful, Hero of Twilight. The walls have eyes here."

That was the only response that he got from the guard before they lapsed back into silence. Link didn't try for conversation again. He wouldn't get an answer, and if he was indeed on trial, he didn't want to say anything that he would regret.

Link didn't know when he fell asleep. Perhaps it had been sometime in the perpetual darkness, although the small light shining in from the door never fully disappeared.

But he did know that he was awoken by a growl.

Link shot to his feet. But he uncoiled his taunt muscles when he saw that it was the Hero's Shade, in typical wolf form, radiated soft golden light as the white-gold wolf always did. But there was something different about him. The glow radiating off of the wolf was dimmed. There was no longer a scar across one of the glowing red eyes.

And why was he here? Link didn't have any hidden skills left to learn and he was quite certain that there was no need for him to be trained further. And didn't the Hero's Shade say that he had become a true Hero after the last hidden skill?

Whatever the reason he was here, Link knew that his reasons were not malicious. The Hero's Shade had been nothing but a guide to him during the tough years of the Twilight War.

The wolf looked at him as though he was expecting something. Link exhaled slowly and nodded.

Although Link couldn't draw the Master Sword, the wolf pounced anyway, and like always his vision was consumed by white.

The mindscape was different. Usually he could see the top few pillars of Hyrule Castle, but besides that there was nothing but white expanse. It was well defined this time. The floor had substance and was lined with cobblestones. Hyrule Castle stood in front of him tall and proud, but it wasn't the same castle. Perhaps it had never been. It was smaller for one and had less decoration, but it was clearly regal. The banner that flew from the towers had changed, but it clearly carried the Triforce. A part from these changes, it was still the same pure white space, now shadowed with the full form of the castle.

"So you came."

The voice seemed to echo around the mindscape. Link turned sharply.

Sitting in front of him, one leg propped against his chest and an elbow resting on that knee, was an older version of himself. The same tunic, the same sword on his back. But Link subtly found differences. Unlike the blackened doppelganger he had seen before, this man wasn't a carbon copy. His hair was lighter, his face sharper. His eyes were darker than Link's azure. His body was wider than Link's leaner form, the limbs shorter. He was taller and his skin was lighter than Link's rough than.

Link grabbed the sword on his back, marveling for a second that it had come back to him. Then Link remembered that this was a mindscape and was powered by will, not material objects.

The older Link shook his head. "There's no need for that. I promise you, I won't move."

"I've had some trouble with copies before," Link said carefully, not releasing the grip on his sword.

The man raised an eyebrow. "So you have met Dark Link already. That's interesting. That's very interesting." He paused for a moment. "But in regards to your statement, you're going to find you are actually a copy of me—a reincarnation of my spirit."

Link paused and released his blade. "Are you . . . the Hero's Shade?"

The man nodded. "To you, I was known by that name. To the other denizens of your time, I'm simply known as the Old Hero, or the Hero of Legend. However, personally, I share your name. The name of the Hero: Link."

"That will get confusing very quickly," Link murmured, sitting down cross-legged on the cobblestones. He relaxed his guard.

"Indeed," the second—or first, depending on viewpoint—Link said. "For now, you can simply call me Shade, since that is the name that you know me by best. I am only a ghost in this world after all."

Shade pierced Link was a scorching gaze that reminded Link of his own. "But not all ghosts remain like that, Hero of Twilight; you have met a few."

"Dark Link . . ." Link murmured.

Shade nodded. "But if you want to have any chance against my old enemies, you need to know how this all began-"

Suddenly the background shifted and the Hyrule Castle that had been behind Shade disappeared. In its place was a forest that glowed with magic. Small particles of it floated through it and blue fairies danced through the trees, followed by young children with pointed ears. But something other than magic dripped from the trees. Globs of darkness—or perhaps Twilight—dropped from the drying branches of the trees and onto the forest floor, killing the plant life.

"-and how it all ended."


	19. Ch 18: Dry Wind

**A/N: I'm back in the game! This chapter is almost 5,000 words long, making up for the last few chapters being shorter. By the way, I've gotten some new reviewers over the last few chapters! Welcome to the party, run by me!**

**God, there were a lot of errors in the last chapter. I went back and fixed most of them, so it should look better now. Well, that's the price of not having a beta. **

**Warnings: This is a Gerudo chapter . . . and the Gerudo is not a nice place to be right now. Also, don't kill Ren. Everything he does is for a reason. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda. Although it is on my wish list. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Eighteen: Dry Wind_

They burned the bodies of the Zora that they had killed with the bodies of the traitors.

Ilia wanted to look away from the funeral pyre. But something held her gaze there with sick fascination, drawing her eyes to the blackened, amphibious bodies of the Zora and the charred limbs of the traitorous Gerudo. Some of the Zora were children with small hands and small heads—that was the only way to tell them apart now.

Ilia felt the bile in her throat. She wanted to look away, she wanted to run, she wanted to leave and go back to the peaceful beautiful life that she had with Fado in Ordon Village—but she couldn't. Her eyes were glued to the dark forms, swallowing down the vomit, trying not to let the horror show on her face. After all, the Gerudo around her showed nothing and Nabooru, standing directly to her left, was the most stoic of them all.

How could they do that? How could they look on the dead bodies of these children, these innocents, some of them their own sisters—and outwardly show nothing?

Nabooru looked at the fire with nothing shown on her tan, heart-shaped face. Not for the first time, Ilia was under the impression that she was serenely beautiful, a type of beautiful that could never be achieved through looks alone. But at the moment she had the face of hard stone.

"It's good that they received a proper Gerudo burial," she whispered, her words almost lost over the crackle of the flames. She said the words in Hylian, which meant that she meant for Ilia to hear, even if the young Ordonian had been picking up Gerudo rather quickly. "They will be judged by the Goddesses now, out of reach of any mortal man." Her eyes flicked to the king's tent as she said the words.

There were rumors going around that the king had killed off all of the traitors. But Ilia knew better. Nabooru had walked back into camp that fateful night, that night of the failed rebellion, and tapped Ilia on the shoulder, gesturing for her to follow. Ilia was scared that the Marked was going to take her to the sight of the dead, where she would see the Gerudo strewn about like they were plant life, but Nabooru was kind and simply led her into the forest.

"Damn Ishizu," Nabooru had muttered like a mantra as they walked through the well-worth paths that surrounded the camps. "Damn them all . . . and they call themselves comrades . . ."

Nabooru stopped walking and simply stood there. She didn't look back at Ilia, standing underneath the shadows of the trees and the broken, splintered light of the moon. It took Ilia a few seconds to comprehend that Nabooru's shoulders were shaking.

Before that, Ilia had wondered why she had come along. Why did Nabooru need her there? But she had realized in that moment that Nabooru didn't need her—she needed that girl that the Gerudo had mentioned before. Nephenee, Nabooru's Hand. Her best friend, the one who had seen Nabooru through thick and thin. The one who was mentioned in dark whispers throughout the camp.

But Nephenee was gone.

And as Ilia wrapped her arms around Nabooru's shaking shoulders, ignoring the wetness that stained both Nabooru's cheeks and her own, she had figured that she was the only thing that Nabooru had.

Now as she looked at the funeral pyre and listened to the dark, foreboding words, Ilia reached out and gripped Nabooru's hand in her own. Nabooru's grip was tight on her fingers. A few moments passed of silence. Then, on the other side of her, Hina, the double-agent and Nabooru's spy, grasped Ilia's other hand.

It took ten minutes for all of the Gerudo to touch hands and gather around the pyre, in understanding that they were all sinking in the same boat, burdened under the same curse. Other than Nabooru and Hina, who was one of the Dark, none of the tattooed members of the Gerudo were in the circle. They were loyal to the king, and they did not belong in this group of mourners.

Mourners for both the lives that had been taken, and the stifling rock they were under that would force them to take more.

Ilia was one of them. She stood in the front of the group, to the left of Nabooru, and didn't look away. She didn't look away. She couldn't.

It was that day that the Gerudo began to call her Nabooru's Left.

Because she knew that she could never take the place of Nabooru's Hand, that girl named Nephenee. And she never wanted to. But she also knew that she was a part of the sisterhood now. She was a part of them.

She was the one that Nabooru had to rely on now.

When they gave her a scimitar the next day, with a promise of teaching, Ilia was hesitant to take it. But she did, for two reasons. The first was that her dagger was broken.

The second was the fact that she couldn't erase the truth that she had been there during the massacre at the Zora Village. That Ishizu had brought her along and shoved her into the battle with the dagger in her hands and roughly told her "Fight if you want to live."

She couldn't erase that some of the bodies on that pyre were her fault.

* * *

It was unsurprising to either Colin or Nephenee that Ren wasn't a good cook. He was an excellent hunter, as a master of stealth, and could get them the meat that was needed, but when it came down to it, the corpse had to be handed to Colin. When he had first came back to the camp with a gray-furred rabbit in his hands, Ren had looked at it with confusion in his eyes, as if he didn't know what to do with it. He held it out to Nephenee, but she simply took the rabbit and handed it over to Colin without a single word. Nephenee was certain that back in the Gerudo she had killed a few people from her cooking.

They were camped past the Bridge of Eldin, near one of those giant rocks that Nephenee was convinced followed people around. Seriously. Everywhere they went, there was another one of those rocks. In the desert the Gerudo had made their home, large rocks like those were considered sacred, a monument to the Goddesses, because they did not occur naturally in the sand. Seeing them being brushed away like nothing for the Hylians came as a shock and a bit blasphemous to Nephenee. But now she realized. They were _everywhere_. It could hardly be considered sacred if they were more abundant than blades of grass in Hyrule.

Colin had left the fire to go gather more of the stiff grass stalks that they had to use instead of wood here. Ren knew the territory like the back of his hand and was the best at finding the illusive little plant, but Colin had offered to go this time. Nephenee was under the impression that he wanted to do a once-over on the perimeter again, just to make sure that they weren't being followed—especially by the Sheikah. Nephenee knew that she wasn't the only one who felt doubtful of the shadowed clan's intentions.

Ren poked the fire carefully, trying to make it last longer until Colin came back with more fuel. While the moon gave them enough light to see by, the flames were their only source of warmth. Nephenee spooned small amounts of the tasteless stew into her mouth, watching Ren warily as she clutched the rough ceramic bowl.

"I have a question for you. Why are you with those two?"

Nephenee looked up sharply from her food at the question. In all honestly, she had expected the Sheikah to ignore her. "What do you mean?"

"I'm not incorrect when I say that you're a member of the Gerudo. You belong with your people, and even now I can tell that you want to do back to them. I have to wonder, why do you linger with Link and Colin? Why don't you simply go back to the place where you want to belong?" Ren paused for a moment, his eyes enchanted by the flames. "Is it because of Colin?"

Nephenee swallowed slowly. "I owe him a debt. He saved my life. While he considers it to be repaid, Gerudo life-debts do not work like that. I will follow him until I personally feel like I have repaid the favor. That is the way that it works within my clan. And, even if I wished, I could not return to my sisters. I am a traitor, and for what I have done, they will bury me in the ground. I cannot argue that I feel a certain longing for my homeland and my sisters, but there is no life for me to return to, even though I want nothing more than to go back."

There was an emotion that Nephenee couldn't place inside of Ren's eyes. "You have a longing to return."

"Of course."

" . . . I have to ask. When this war is over, no matter who wins, it's not going to turn out well for you. If Hyrule wins, you'll most likely be banished from Hyrule or executed with the rest of your people. Banishment is more likely, considering that the princess is lenient. If the Gerudo wins, and you're still a traitor, you will most likely be killed. If you change sides once more, you'll most likely die at the hands of one of the Sheikah, simply because you know too much. No matter what happens in the end, no matter who wins, you're going to lose." Ren paused, watching as Nephenee's knuckles turned white as she gripped the bowl. "What are you going to do?"

Nephenee's spoon clattered harshly against the side of her empty bowl. "Why are you asking me this?!"

Ren leaned over the fire, and his eyes were wild, yet at the same time frightening cold. For a fleeting second, Nephenee was scared. She had never been scared of her companions, not even of Link, and she knew how powerful he was. But she wasn't scared of Ren's power. She was scared of his determination, determination that was directed at her.

"I will give you one warning, Nephenee. You have to choose a side. If I think—for just a moment—that you are a threat to Hyrule or to the princess, I will not hesitate to end your life. You have given me no reason to believe that you will harm this nation, but this is a warning. I will do anything, _anything_, to protect this nation and its people. You have to decide which side you're on—because if the world decides for you, and it's not the one it should be, we'll be enemies, and we both know that you can't defeat me."

Nephenee's eyes were large, holding an emotion that she was not yet comfortable with and happened far too much these days—fear. "Will it certainly be you?"

"I'm the princess's closest other than her bodyguard and I get sent on the missions that concern her personally. Since you have met with the Hero, yes, I will most likely be the person sent to kill you. I'm giving you this warning because I care, and because I know that you need to do this. I don't to kill you and you don't want to die. But you've got to answer that question, Nephenee. Otherwise this is all pointless."

Ren suddenly stood up and turned away from the fire. He glanced back, the shadows drifting over his unmarked cheek. "Make your choice, Nephenee. The world doesn't wait."

The shadows seemed to bend around him as he disappeared.

Nephenee clenched her bowl so tight in her hand that it shattered. A jagged piece of the ceramic cut deeply into her head, allowing blood to flow freely. Nephenee didn't even look down, her gaze consumed on the fire.

She fisted her bleeding hand and brought it up to her face, watching her lifeblood squeeze through her fingers, ignoring the pain. "Damn him," she said softly. "Damn him to the Dark World."

When Colin found her, her eyes were unnaturally shiny and focused on the dying embers, throwing long shadows across her face. He slowly dropped the grass stalks next to the fire and walked over to Nephenee, pulling her blooded hand away from her face. Her cheek was smeared crimson. Colin didn't say anything as he wrapped her hand with bandages, simply waiting for Nephenee to speak.

When she didn't even look at him, Colin asked quietly, "What happened?"

Nephenee turned her face away from him, the blood a glowing red on her cheek. If Colin had turned his head just the slightest bit, he would have saw the haunted, dead look in Nephenee's eyes.

"He just told me things that I already know."

* * *

"Left!"

It wasn't a direction anymore in the Gerudo camp. It was a name.

After the day of the funeral, Ilia had changed. She wasn't the same person that she had been in Ordon Village. She wasn't the same person that she was when she had first day she had been added to the Gerudo lifestyle. Ilia was a sister now. Ilia had been indicted into the Gerudo.

It wasn't a big ceremony like it would have been if they had not been in war. Since there was no way in hell that she would join the ranks of the Dark or the Marked—she didn't have the fighting ability even if she did want to join the ranks—they hadn't had the need to paint her arm. But they did anyway. They gave her an intricate swirl that looked like a flower from a distance. When she asked why they did that when she was barely passable as a fighter in a Gerudo, they said that it marked her rank as Nabooru's Left. And to them, it meant more than any fighting prowess she might have had. And Ilia knew that that was some of the highest praise that she could have gotten.

It had been less than a week since then. Ilia didn't really know how it happened, but she was suddenly an important person in the Gerudo. Apparently, Nabooru had been the most likely the next candidate to be the clan chief. All of the positions that they had given other girls in the Gerudo—the Hand, the Left—they were the ranks of the advisors of the clan chief.

In the eyes of her sisters, Ilia now had the rank of an advisor.

She didn't understand it. She couldn't even comprehend the Gerudo language and swordplay correctly, although she was making small strides in each. How could she be an advisor to these people?

But when some of the younger ones came up to her with cuts and scrapes and questions, Ilia would smile and wrap their wounds before telling them stories of her childhood in Ordon Village and the adventures that she had once had—she even told them the story about how she got her scar.

That was when she realized that that was the advisor was. Unlike the clan chief, they did not have to be warriors. They were the healers, the storytellers, the strategists behind the clan and they didn't have the fight to be respected. They didn't have to be physically strong to have the others in awe of them.

Maybe it was the role that Ilia was born to play.

It had been three days since she had been indicated. The day before, they had received chilling news—Hyrule and Princess Zelda had official declared war on them. Ilia knew that the news couldn't have been more than a day old. The Gerudo spies and scouts were good, she had to admit, even if it made everything harder for her.

Ilia turned to the sound of her name being called. Because that was what it was—it was her name now. All across the camp, even by the Marked, she was known as Nabooru's Left. The good thing was that Ishizu stopped bullying her, knowing that she was now a sister and had the support of most of the camp behind her. The bad part was that she recognized the look that Ishizu had in her eyes—the look that she had finally recognized Ilia as a threat.

That gave her chills as she wrapped a pale hand—she was decently tan, but pale to everyone else in the Gerudo—over the tattoo that been painted on her skin with that dark plant.

Ilia didn't know how Gerudo tattoos worked. She knew that they could be removed, and because of that they were renewed every five years before they faded. But all that mattered was that her tattoo that was a symbol of her status and her sisterhood would not be removed anytime recently.

With her luck, it would be renewed before she was able to leave.

It was Hina that was walking towards her. Ilia gave the girl a small smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. The reality was still settling in on her: Hyrule was at war. And she couldn't help but feel like she was on the wrong side of the conflict. There would be more lives lost before she would be free—and now that she wore the Gerudo symbol both in her heart and on her skin, it would be her countrymen that she killed.

But she was coming under the realization that she couldn't just turn her blade on the Gerudo. Together, they were all prisoners. Together, they were comrades. And they were together because there was no way that they would survive on their own.

Hina slowed to a stop in front of Ilia. "Left, I'm glad that I caught up to you."

Ilia nodded and raised an eyebrow, all smiles gone. Something was wrong. She could tell by the crease in Hina's brows. "What's wrong?"

"Some of the king's scouts came back. They've brought something—an artifact from the Old Desert. Whatever it is, it can't be good."

"The Old Desert . . ." Ilia mused. "Go and see if you can find out what it is. I'll tell Nabooru."

Hina nodded and gave a slight bow, which gave Ilia an uneasy feeling in her gut. These people, they needed someone to rely on. Nabooru had become that rock for her sister. And since Ilia was Nabooru's rock, she had accepted this burden. It made her feel a bit restless that she was treated as higher than the others, even if it was by their own violation. It made her uncomfortable.

But she was determined to do good here. She wasn't able to help the people in Ordon Village. But she could make a difference here, as Nabooru's Left.

Ilia continued walking, determined to find Nabooru, who was probably training. It was actually where she was going anyway.

The scimitar was heavy on her back and Ilia knew that she wasn't accustomed to wielding it. It was a true Gerudo weapon, they had told her, and it needed true heart to wield it. Maybe that was the reason that she was so slow at understanding the nature of swordplay. Maybe her heart wasn't true enough—or maybe it simply was that she wasn't a Gerudo at heart yet.

But she looked like one. From the tattoo on her arm to the baggy pants that were tight around the middle of her shins to the tight piece of cloth that she wore over her breasts and half of her stomach, she looked like a Gerudo. She didn't have the long red hair to tie up into a ponytail or the deep tanned skin that marked her as a desert-dweller, but Ilia definitely didn't look like a Hylian. But she wasn't a Gerudo either. She was somewhere in between. She would never be that Ordon girl she had been before, but she couldn't be the Gerudo warrior that they wanted her to be. She felt like a bridge.

For a fleeting moment, she wondered if this was what Link had felt like, being a Hero and connecting all the races of Hyrule.

But then that thought disappeared and she wondered why she had even brought Link up.

But . . . she still wondered . . . if she was a bridge, how long would it be before she crossed it and chose a side? How long would it be before she threw away her farm girl past—and Fado—away to become a Gerudo at its whole?

Because Ilia couldn't pretend that she wasn't becoming one of them. Every day she grew closer to the people and the culture. She learned different things. She was taught how to fight and what new plants were used for healing. She sat by the fire at night like the others and was told the old stories about the Sage of Spirit and the Hero of Legend and their adventures in the Old Desert.

Was there a part of her that would remain the same after everything that she had gone through? Was there any part of her that would be untouched by the things that she had gone through?

Ilia suddenly thought back to Link and drug her fingers down her scar.

After all her ruminating, one thought stood out stronger than the rest of her musing.

Her hands were harder than they had been two weeks ago.

* * *

Finding Nabooru was easier said than done. Ilia wandered around constantly, searching for her, asking her sisters if they knew where the Marked was, or who she was with, or if they had seen her today.

She received only uncommitted answers and "I thought that I saw her over . . ." followed by a long list of places that Ilia couldn't keep up with.

While she walked, she couldn't help but think of what Hina had said.

An artifact of the Old Desert . . . Ilia hadn't been around long by Gerudo standards, but everyone knew what the Old Desert was in the clan. It was the setting of all the old tales about the Sage of Spirit and the Hero of Legend. The Gerudo had once lived there as a clan. But centuries ago, the Gerudo had left the Old Desert to migrate further south, where there was a larger food supply and less monsters. Here in Hyrule, Ilia knew, they called it the Gerudo Desert, which pleased the other clan members greatly.

Any artifact brought from there was no good thing.

In Ordon, and other places in Hyrule, stories were told of the Gerudo Desert. The bards said that it was full of dark magic, full of curses and spells of the witches who had lived there long ago. Ilia knew now that they were talking about the Gerudo, and that it was all falsehood—the Gerudo didn't really like magic at all, considering it an unnatural gift, which was why the king wasn't trusted—but there was a uneasy feeling that she had.

And she still couldn't find Nabooru.

As Ilia walked through the camp, the sun was setting. It had been hours since anyone had last seen her. The camp was small, just a bundle of tents . . . there wasn't much room to hide. Where had Nabooru gone?

As a shiver worked its way down her back, Ilia placed a hand to her newly-acquired blade.

She walked through the maze of tents for another hour before she gave up on finding Nabooru. Wherever she was, Ilia could only hope that she wasn't in trouble . . .

The young girl's fears were lifted when she saw the flash of red hair and the tattoo.

"Nabooru!" Ilia called out, running towards her.

The Marked turned, and Ilia slowed down suddenly, before taking a step back.

"You're . . . not Nabooru . . ." she said slowly, blinking her eyes quickly.

It was Nabooru's body, that was for sure. But there was something wrong with her. Her eyes were dead, empty. They didn't have pupils. And on her forehead, surrounded by gold, there was a blood-red gem shaped like an oval. There was cruelty on her face that didn't belong there. Nabooru's lips were curled back in a snarl.

Ilia suddenly felt like the bottom had dropped out of her stomach.

Nabooru didn't respond to what Ilia said and simply walked on, sneering once at the young Ordon girl before turning away haughtily and going to talk with Ishizu. If Ilia didn't think that something was wrong before, something was definitely wrong now. Ishizu and Nabooru had hated each other from the beginning, even Ilia knew that. The fights that the two of them and that girl Nephenee got into were legendary and regularly told around the camp fire.

Years of hatred didn't simply disappear.

And Nabooru wasn't that kind of person.

That jewel on Nabooru's head . . .

"What do we do?"

Ilia turned around sharply, only to see Hina and some of the better fighters of the Gerudo standing behind her.

"There's something wrong with Nabooru, we can all see it," Hina said softly. "She disappeared into the king's tent earlier today. She came back out with that jewel on her head. She doesn't recognize any of us." Hina paused for a moment. "She asked me what my name was."

Hina and the other Gerudo watched her with wide eyes. They were looking for her to lead them. Because she was Nabooru's Left—a title that she felt she didn't even deserve—and Nabooru was out of commission. They needed her.

Ilia was suddenly grateful that she had been granted her title before Nabooru was taken by . . . whatever had caused her to change. If not these people would be left without anything, not even a person to lean on.

Ilia breathed out slowly. "We'll obey orders for now. We can't risk anyone else losing themselves. But keep your ears and eyes open, and report back to me if you see anything suspicious." Ilia exhaled slowly. "Stay away from Nabooru. I'm not sure if she's still got all of her memories with her being in that trance. Even if she doesn't, we can't risk people like me and Hina being ratted out. As for Nabooru herself . . . I'll figure something out."

Hina and the other members of the Gerudo looked substantially relieved just having orders to obey. The Gerudo were a loyal people after all, and they needed someone to follow. Apparently, left out of all other options, they had turned to Ilia, the newly minted Nabooru's Left, who had been their sister for less than five days.

It was a sad state of affairs in the Gerudo.

Ilia felt a tug from behind her. She saw the frightened eyes of a twelve-year-old girl—the youngest fighter in the Gerudo who was allowed to go on raids with them. This child was small for her age, and didn't even seem to have come into her womanhood. Ilia's heart clenched when she realized that like all the other Gerudo, she had probably been in the raid of the Zora outpost.

The child looked up at Ilia with wide eyes. "Gon'a be ah'kay?" the girl asked in broken, shattered Hylian. Unlike the rest of the Gerudo, she probably hadn't gotten time to finish her basic studying before she was taken from the Gerudo homeland and into the war.

"Yes," Ilia said with a soft smile. "It's going to be okay."

Since she had arrived in the Gerudo, Ilia had changed. She had taken off her Ordon clothes and donned the attire of a Gerudo warrior. She had a tattoo on her arm. She wore a blade on her back. People looked up to her and respected her. There was no longer pity in their eyes for her scar. She had killed. She had attended more funerals in the past few days than her entire lifetime. She had made friends and lost them in a matter of minutes. She had been broken completely.

And now, she had lied.

Ilia's eyes flickered back to the figure that she once knew as Nabooru, who was now controlled by the king.

Because nothing was ever going to be okay.


	20. Ch 19: In The Ages Of Old

**A/N: This is chapter nineteen. For the most part, it's a basic retelling of the Ocarina of Time storyline, with a little insightful tidbits here and there. For those of you familiar with the game, you can skim through most of this. However, any time that TP Link talks, it's usually important. Enjoy!**

**Warnings: Contains copious amounts of Ocarina of Time. I have changed slight, insignificant details. Please do not kill me for them!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight Princess OR Ocarina of Time. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Nineteen: In the Ages of Old_

Link glanced around at his new surroundings carefully. It still held the dull-white glow of the dreamscape, but he could clearly tell that it was a forest, but different than one that he had ever seen. Around him, children laughed and ran after blue-tinted fairies. When they got close to either Link or Shade, they simply disappeared for a moment before appearing on the other side as if the two Heroes were never there.

"We are not a part of this realm, and as such, cannot touch it," Shade said carefully. Like he had promised before, the man had not moved a single inch from the place that he sat. He hadn't even adjusted his position. "These are my memories, of the past where I was the Hero of Time. I will give you the short version of my adventures, for they are truly not the most pressing matter at hand."

Shade waved a hand around at the trees and abundant plant life. "This was my childhood home until I took up my mantle as the Hero."

"Where are we?" Link asked in wonder.

"This was once known as the Kokiri Forest. It does not exist in your time. Centuries after I passed from the world, my people left the boundaries of Hyrule for other, distant lands that were not covered in warfare the way that Hyrule was." The scene around the background changed once more before it came to stop before a large, ancient tree with a face in its trunk. It was the brown-bark face of an old man, withered with wisdom. "This was the Great Deku Tree. He was my guardian while I was raised in the Kokiri. Unfortunately, he was cursed. I managed to save him from the darkness as a child, but there was a greater threat. A man cloaked in black who came riding from the desert. With this warning and the Kokiri Emerald, one of the three sacred jewels to open the Temple of Time, I left my childhood home behind in search of Princess Zelda, to warn her of the threat."

Link watched as a young boy with the same soft green tunic walk through the forest, a green gem clutched in his hand and a soft blue fairy following behind him, chattering incessantly, although Link couldn't hear the words that she was saying.

Link suddenly had a sense of vertigo as the background swirled once again. Deciding that standing on his feet was no longer a good option, Link dropped down and sat on seemingly nothing. "For the love of the Goddesses, warn me next time!"

Shade ignored him. He gestured to the scene around them once more. "Now this is a place you will probably recognize."

Link warily looked around at the rushes of people, the silent merchants who were shouting out the names of their goods, the worn cobblestones and the high banners that displayed that altered version of the crest of Hyrule. Or rather, since they were lounging around in the past, the appropriate phrase would be original crest of Hyrule.

"It's Castle Town," Link said carefully.

Shade nodded. "Or rather, my time's Castle Town. After I left the Forest, I came here, searching for Princess Zelda. Of course, going to seek advice from the princess isn't that simple." Shade pointed one hand to the left, where that same young Kokiri boy was arguing with two of the guards who didn't seem to want to let him in. Eventually they shoved him into the dust. The young boy spat on the ground and gave the guards a harsh glare and walked away. The guards seemed to be laughing.

"But while I may not have had the presence of a Hero that I would obtain later in life, I was clever. And I knew that, as the wish of the Great Deku Tree, I had to go see Princess Zelda; in my young mind, there was no choice in the matter. So I found a way."

The scene shifted only slightly, now focused on the moat that surrounded that castle, specifically an unguarded water drain and the young boy that was now opening it with the help of a dagger he pulled out from around his waist. As the young green-clad boy popped the grate open, he looked around warily before slipping inside of the narrow crevice, the fairy following close behind, looking worried.

The entire mindscape turned an unusual shade of black, yet Link could still see everything clearly. When the darkness cleared around them, Link watched from his place as a specter as the young boy made his way across a walled in courtyard and towards a young girl who wore the royal robes of Hyrule.

Link glanced over at Shade. Link somehow felt like he was intruding, watching the memories of Shade's life. But he wasn't one to waste words, so he glanced back over at Shade carefully. "Is that . . . Princess Zelda?"

Shade nodded carefully and smiled slightly, and for a moment Link felt off-put at how alike they were. He felt like he was glancing into a mirror that didn't mimic him. But he was certain to cover insecurities. It wouldn't do well to show weakness, even to an ally.

"That is the Princess Zelda of my time. Like yourself and Ganondorf, the spirit of the Princess of Destiny it passed on through generations as well. This was the first time that I had met her, and I found out about the dreams that she had had—and I was reminded of my own."

There was a sudden shift that Link wasn't prepared for and he was glad that he had the foresight to no longer stand, certain that he would have fallen. He took in the sight of the mindscape as it was surrounded in darkness and flames. Out of that came a young girl—one that looked surprisingly like the princess of this time—riding on a white horse with another figure while a black horse with red eyes followed. Link squinted as he tried to get a better look at the dark shape, but it seemed to be covered in a black fog.

But he still recognized that horse. He had seen it recently—in the middle of the battle of Ordon Village. "Ganondorf?" he murmured softly.

If Shade had heard his quiet musing, the older Hero didn't comment on it as the scene shifted once more. The mindscape was absorbed by the glowing of an emerald jewel held between two pale hands and the clear blue eyes of a Hero.

The scene faded back to the courtyard where the young boy was talking to the princess once more and Shade began talking once more.

"Zelda warned me that Ganondorf was searching for the Sacred Realm in order to obtain the ancient power known as the Triforce. You're familiar with that, as well, aren't you?" Shade didn't even wait for Link to nod before he continued. "Even in the centuries before I had existed, it had been fought over. Before I was born, there was a great civil war. It was brought on by the discovery of the Sacred Realm by a group known as the Twili—who were then banished by the Goddesses to a darker world than we would ever know. In my age, it was known as the Dark World, and it was told as a tale to young Kokiri children who disobeyed the rules.

"But that discovery—the discovery of a perfect world—led to the fighting of the nations. Eventually, it ended in the uniting of the nations under the banner of Hyrule, but the animosity was still there. The Goddess, seeing the hatred and evil that had been unleashed onto the world because of the opening of the Sacred Realm, decided that it was better to lock the realm—and the Triforce—away completely, not to be brought back into mortal hands. But the demon thief—the man known as Ganondorf—never forgot the power that was held within the Sacred Realm. The man who obtained that power would be king of all of Hyrule in an instance. So, he craved that power. Which is what led him to fight against Hyrule with his loyal followers."

Shade placed his chin within his palm as he looked around the courtyard reflectively. "Of course, this all ended about twenty years before I was even born. But it is the history of the Sacred Realm. But what drove Ganondorf was that desire for power at whatever the cost, which is why I had to stop him. Obtaining access to the Triforce would have meant that Ganondorf had the power to crush Hyrule under the heel of his boot. Both Zelda and I were determined to stop him, which meant that we needed to get to the Triforce first and protect it.

"Now, the Goddesses are not foolish beings. Despite having locked away the Sacred Realm, it was not without entrance. But there were requirements—the three Sacred Jewels, one of which I possessed; the Ocarina of Time, which was held by Princess Zelda; and the Master Sword, the blade belonging to the true Hero and the key to opening the Sacred Realm. With this in mind, I left Castle Town in search of the other two Scared Jewels in order to stop Ganondorf."

The scene faded to white as Link watched a series of interloping scenes of the same young boy—it was hard considering the child to be Shade's younger form when the man himself was right in front of him—travelling through plains and across mountains and rivers. There were moments where he would speak with one of the Zoras or a Goron. The scenes of adventuring continued as Shade spoke.

"I'll save you the gory details of adventuring as I'm sure you're aware of the process."

"Find a dungeon, explore a dungeon, kill the boss, get the treasure," Link quipped.

Shade chuckled. "Yes, that does seem to be the general process. With the help of the Gorons and the Zoras, I obtained the two other gems that I needed—the Zora's Sapphire and the Goron's Ruby. With these in hand and new allegiances made, I journeyed back to Castle Town and to Zelda. Only to walk into my nightmares."

The mindscape changed to that same scene of fire and darkness, placed against the banners of Hyrule Castle. The white horse carrying the princess and the other figure darted away, followed by the same black shape, which was now coming into focus. A tall dark-skinned man with violent red hair and cruel eyes rode swiftly on the back of his steed towards the princess, a grimace in his face.

Suddenly, the young boy approached and tried to attack the horseman, only to be knocked back. The princess turned back and shouted something inaudible to Link's ears. In a flash of golden light, she had thrown something from horseback. The young Hero stood there in shock as he caught the glowing piece of light, watching in horror and the chase continued, leaving him behind in the dust and ashes of Castle Town.

Slowly, he wiped away the blood from his eyes and opened his palms only to look down in bewilderment. Resting between his palms was an odd instrument, which carried the mark of the Triforce and glowed with a soft, steady light.

Shade watched the scene from the sideline wistfully, his hand lingering on the side of his pouch, feeling the hem of the leather carefully. "Before she ran, Zelda had gifted me with the Ocarina of Time, the last thing that I needed to open the Gate of Time. With a heavy heart and ashes clinging to my face, I headed for the Temple of Time to try and complete our mission and save the Sacred Realm from Ganondorf."

The mindscape blurred and faded. When a new setting popped up, Link's eyes widened.

"Now, this place I recognize," he said with a slight smile as he looked around at the entrance to the Temple of Time. It looked the same as it did when Link wandered into the dungeon seeking the Mirror Shard.

"Yes, I hear that the Goddess's guardians have kept it in good condition," Shade added. He turned slightly on the ground—now marble, although they weren't actually touching the memory. "And here I come now." Shade gestured as the green-clad youth, his fairy companion following close behind, entered into the Temple of Time and placed the three gems on a raise altar. With a deep breath, the boy pulled out the Ocarina of Time and began to play a soft melody that Link could hear—the first sound that he had heard from the memories.

"Yes, the Song of Time echoes even here," Shade commented. "That is the key to entering the Temple of Time, which houses the Master Sword, the key to entering the Sacred Realm. I found the Master Sword, and like every Hero that has come before or after me, I claimed the blade as its rightful owner. Like all other times, it did not deny me."

Black smoke suddenly entered into the Temple, and a figure that Link knew all too well entered. He was wearing different cloths and sported a younger appearance than the one that Link had fought, but it was the same person.

"Ganondorf," Link clenched out between ground teeth.

"Indeed," Shade said casually. "Sensing that the princess had given me the keys to open the Sacred Realm, he had followed me into the Temple of Time. I was powerless to stop him; I couldn't even approach the man. He walked by me and headed into the Sacred Realm to obtain the Triforce, but not without mocking me, stating that I had practically handed him the Triforce. And how true that was. The Temple, sensing my weakness, closed in on itself. As I was, being the young boy, I did not have the power to compete with Ganondorf. The doors of the Temple of Time remained closed for seven years. During that time, I remained in a deep sleep, unaware of anything that had happened to me. Needless to say, Ganondorf obtained the Triforce while I was gone from Hyrule."

The next scene was another that Link recognized, and he had a feeling that it wasn't from Shade's memories but his own. It was the vision that he had been given by the Light Spirit Lanaryu, about the Fused Shadow. A golden Triforce glowing over a perfect hill.

"Now, when the Goddesses created the Triforce, they set a prophecy down in stone. In one with a balanced heart touched the Triforce, then they would obtain all of its power. But if the heart was unbalanced, that person would only hold one of the three pieces. Ganondorf obviously didn't have a balanced heart. The Triforce split. I'm sure you know who got the pieces."

Link nodded sharply.

The background of the Temple of Time returned. Awakening from the pedestal was a much older man, nearly Link's age when he had started his adventures. Looking around him curiously, the blonde-haired man adjusted his hat to gently remove the fairy that was inside of it before sighing once. With renewed confidence in his eyes, the man pulled the Master Sword out of the pedestal and headed out of the Temple of Time.

"I awoke seven years older, with the mind of a child. With Navi at my side, I left the Temple of Time behind, searching for answers to all of the questions I had. I was met with a grim picture of Hyrule—in my absence, Princess Zelda had gone missing, Ganondorf reigned supreme, and the people had descended into despair. I was haunted by what was left of the once proud nation."

Random memories assaulted Link—broken houses, monsters roamed cobblestoned streets, dark shadows over quivering children. A malicious sneer in the darkness.

"But in this dark future, I learned of a hope—myself along with the Seven Sages, one of which I had already met—Rauru, the Sage of Light. He had been the one who had locked me within the Temple of Time and waited patiently as a matured. When I awoke, he explained the situation to me—how, with the help of the other Six Sages, I could defeat Ganondorf and bind the evil away."

A picture of a man appeared. Stout, and dressed in ceremonial robes with a twinkle in his eye, Link assumed that this was the Sage that Shade spoke of.

For once, the mindscape faded back to white, even the spires of Hyrule Castle gone.

"It will get tedious if I explain all of my adventures to you. I will explain only the things that you need to know. I found five other Sages in my travels—my old friend Saria, who was the Sage of Forest; the Goron Leader, known as Darunia, the Sage of Fire; the Zora princess Ruto, the Sage of Water, who confusingly thought that the two of us were to be married; Zelda's bodyguard, Impa, a Sheikah, who was the Sage of Shadow; and lastly Nabooru, a brainwashed Gerudo warrior, forced into following her king, Ganondorf, was the Sage of Spirit."

As he spoke, images of people appeared in the mist—a young girl with pointed ears and green hair, a Goron with a kind face, a blushing Zora with wide blue eyes. A strong-willed Sheikah with blood-red eyes and a slight smile. Finally, a tall Gerudo woman with scimitars on her back and a smirk on her face. "Now—"

"Wait!" Link interrupted.

Shade looked at him expectantly.

"The last Sage—Nabooru, right?" Shade nodded. Link exhaled before continuing. "I have a companion, her name is Nephenee; she's known as Nabooru's Hand. She's sisters with Nabooru."

"I wouldn't be surprised. Look at the two of us. We are, in essence, the same soul. Yet we sit here and we talk to one another as if nothing is wrong. The Sages have strong powers. I wouldn't be surprised if Nabooru had been reincarnated into the Gerudo once again just as the Hero and the Princess of Destiny have been."

"But what about the actual Sages? I've met them—wouldn't that be an overlap?"

"After my time, the term Sage has been passed on to wise magic users gifted in clairvoyance and chosen by the Goddesses. They are considered to be the link between the Sacred Realm and Hyrule, and there are always seven of them. However, they do not nearly have the power or influences of the Sages that I was once sent to find. You met them on your travels. Yes, these men are Sages, but they are not the ones that I traversed the world of Hyrule to find—nor are the reincarnations of them. They are separate entirely."

Link breathed out. "Confusing, but acceptable. For a moment, I was worried that we had a time lapse."

"You're sitting here, talking to a centuries-old incarnation of your spirit, and you're worried about the Sages?" Shade said with a raised eyebrow.

Link only shrugged.

Shade smiled slyly. "Now, before I go any further, I should probably mention a few people. One of them would be my alter-ego, known now as Dark Link. He was a force to be reckoned with. I fought him in the Water Temple and defeated him by a hair. But Dark Link and I are flip sides of the same coin. While he faded into the shadows after I had defeated him, I knew that he hadn't disappeared. After all, I was still alive—he couldn't have died.

"The second person I should mention would be a man known as Sheik. Perhaps, in hindsight, that wouldn't be the best name to call him. Like all great Heroes, I had a guide. Sheik was my helper, one of the Sheikah clan and a double agent towards Ganondorf. I was never sure if I could truly trust the man, but he never steered me wrong. He was a constant throughout my adventures, guiding me on. It was only later that I found out who he really was."

As the mindscape showed Sheik's face, Link's eyebrows furrowed into a sharp V.

"I've met him," Link said carefully.

For once, Shade looked at Link in surprise. "You've met Sheik? He shouldn't exist in your timeline . . . unless . . . oh, the Princess of Destiny does have a sick sense of humor."

"What are you talking about?"

"Near the end of my adventure, I discovered the truth—that Sheik was not a Sheikah, he wasn't working for Ganondorf and that he was the Seventh Sage that I had traversed hell and high water to find. As if that didn't throw my head for a loop, imagine how much the revelation that Sheik, my helpful little guide Sheik, was actually Princess Zelda in disguise the whole time, hiding from Ganondorf right under his own nose."

"Wait, you're not saying . . ."

"It seems that destiny loves making your life interesting, doesn't she?" Shade gave him a smirk. "That Sheikah boy you probably saw was actually Princess Zelda in disguise—after all, knowledge of that transformation is passed down from one princess to another. I guess Zelda must have gotten bored."

Link paused for a moment with wide eyes. He blinked a few times and shook his head before relaxing his posture once more. "I wasn't expecting that."

Shade chuckled. "Now you know how I felt. I discovered Princess Zelda once more—but Ganondorf could sense it as well. It took all of ten minutes for Zelda to be taken once more. With the help of the Six Sages, I broke through the barrier, and faced in single combat. As destiny dictates, I won."

The scene shifted to a ruined throne room, where a panting and bloodied Hero stood over the body of Ganondorf, pausing for a few moments to catch his breath before ripping the blade out of Ganondorf's battered body. For a moment, nothing occurred, only for the man to turn around sharply. Behind him were the Six Sages, along with Zelda, who smiled at him warily.

The Six Sages gathered in a circle around Ganondorf's body as Zelda stepped in the middle. The Hero quickly moved away and a tremble racked the room and a crack appeared in the space in front of the throne. All seven of the Sages glowed as they began speaking some sort of incantation.

"In order to assure peace in my timeline, Zelda and the others sent Ganondorf to the dark realm that had been created—the place that the Interlopers had been sent when they tried to take over the Sacred Realm."

"The Twilight."

Shade nodded. "The Twilight. Ganondorf was dead, I made sure of that. But we covered all of our bases when the Sages sentenced the body of the villain to the Twilight Realm. A temple was erected for his body, which never aged and never decayed. Placed under the highest of magic, we wished to make sure than nothing like the tragedy that had occurred would happen again."

Shade laughed. "Oh, how wrong we were."

The scene shifted back to the white space it had been when the story first started, with the towers of Hyrule Castle behind the ancient Hero.

"After the final battle, Zelda returned to my own time, giving me back the seven years that I had lost in the Temple of Time. It also returned Hyrule to the way that it had once been. My memory and the memory of the Seven Sages remained intact, but other than that, no one even knew how close they had come to destruction and despair.

"But I remembered, and I recognized that there was something missing from this timeline—Ganondorf. Since he had not been in Hyrule when the Song of Time was played, trapped within the Twilight Realm, where time and space flow differently from how they do here, he had not been returned to the Realm. But I was here, and I changed life for the better in Hyrule. Eventually I became the general of Zelda's armies. I was renowned for my deeds, and no one knew of the greatest adventure of all.

"But my story is not yet complete. If you remember Dark Link, you'll recognize that this has not ended. Like I said before, Dark Link and Hero of Time are opposite sides of the same coin. He represents my darker half, all of my fighting skills untendered with mercy. Nearly twenty years after the fall of Ganondorf and the return to my own timeline, I met Dark Link again, and he struck at the very heart of Hyrule—Princess Zelda.

"I saved the princess and returned her to her throne. However, it was time for me to face my other half. I was nearing the age of thirty by then and it had been over twenty years since I had last seen my darker counterpart. But Dark Link remembered me, and didn't look over a day from the time that I had last seen him. He spoke to me, telling me that this was our final battle and that one of us needed to die to return balance to things. I agreed with him. Dark Link and I faced off."

Link was suddenly above the battlefield. The two opposing forces clashed again and again. As the two warriors jumped back and began fighting once more, Link took in his surroundings.

"Is this the Temple of Time?"

"Yes. Where it all started, it all ended. In the end of the battle, I stood victorious. Dark Link needed to die. However, that was impossible while I still roamed this world. With the help of Zelda, I decided that there was only one thing to do—imprison him forever. As with Ganondorf, the Seven Sages and I locked Dark Link away in the Twilight Realm. In that realm, he is known as the Relic, and he would remain there for an eternity, never to walk the face of this earth again."

Shade paused for a moment.

"However, I soon died on a different battlefield, during a civil war with the Gerudo. The desert people were starving and dying. Their homeland could no longer support their growing population, so they did the only thing that made sense to them—they tried to find another homeland."

As Link watched, the Hyrule fields were now covered in the blood of Hylian soldiers and Gerudo warriors alike. He watched as a young man moved throughout the battlefield, helping the other warriors move the bodies away. He had changed. He was now missing his left eye, with a rough scar over the eyelid. A black cape adorned with the Triforce now rested over his shoulders. He walked with a limp, holding his side. Suddenly, a corpse moved and stabbed the man in the thigh with a dagger. The man looked down to her in shock and horror. It was a young Gerudo girl, no more than twelve, who had fear and horror in her eyes, tears running down her face.

"By that time, we had already defeated the Gerudo. Although it pained Zelda to do it, she banished the Gerudo from Hyrule. In a way, it was a blessing. She sent some of the Sheikah to lead the clan to a new desert discovered to the south of Hyrule; there they could prosper away from all of the wars and the prejudices of the Hylians.

"But apparently, my time was done in this world. Normally a wound such as that would never have killed me. Even the intense wounds that I had suffered in the battle wouldn't have killed me. But that dagger had been poisoned, and with the Gerudo now gone from our borders, there was no chance of saving me.

"I learned later that I had ushered in a new age of peace for Hyrule. After that war, after the defeat and banishment of the Gerudo, the world was at peace for several hundred years. But I lingered on, a slave to my regrets, until I eventually found peace as the Hero's Shade, teaching you the art of swordplay and protecting Hyrule once more in my own way."

The mindscape faded back into white, and Link had a feeling that it would remain that way.

"I'm sorry that you had to die so young," Link said carefully.

Shade shook his head. "It is not in the destiny of a Hero to die old with age. At least I died on a battlefield, in an honorable way. In Hyrule, the need for a Hero had passed, and it was time that I had moved on. Besides, I had already lived my life twice due to time travel—I already felt like a very old man."

Link paused taking in all that had been revealed to him.

"But what about Ganondorf coming back? And Dark Link? He shouldn't still be in this timeline, should he?"

Shade sighed. "Logically, it is impossible for Ganondorf to be reincarnated twice in one lifetime. I do not know who you faced. But there is a good chance that Dark Link has survived the way that I have survived, a simple shadow only now given corporal form."

"Speaking of that, why are you younger now?"

"Oh?" Shade looked down at his form curiously. "Yes, this was the way that I looked some months before I died. While this is only a theory, it seems that since Dark Link has returned to this world in a tangible form, it seems that I have reverted back to the form that I was in before we fought for the last time. I told you my story so that you would understand the history of those that you are facing. Of the matter of Ganondorf, you must speak to the Sages. I have told you all that I can about the past—it's your decision about where to go from here in the present."

Link stood up off of the white ground. "And the Sheikah? Do you know why I am their prisoner?"

Shade shook his head. "The Sheikah are a strict people, bond by rules. Any number of thing could have offended them. But be cautious—I sense a certain darkness lingering within these tunnels."

Shade got up from the ground as well. "Before I send you back to your current time, I have a few warnings. First, I do not know how much time has passed while you have remained in this mindscape. Be careful when you awake. As well, I should warn you that I cannot interfere directly in your battles, especially those about Ganondorf. Unlike Ganondorf and Dark Link, I do have a mortal incarnation alive in this time period. I must remain a shadow. Two Heroes in the same time period is not a fortunate thing. I will do my best to aid you in this fight, but the battles themselves must be you. I cannot interfere."

"I understand."

"Then, as before, go and do not falter, my child!"

As Link even heard the words, Shade raised and a hand and slashed horizontally across the mindscape, and Link's vision faded to white.


	21. Ch 20: The Shadow Stretches

**A/N: I could give you a list of how bad my life is right now, but I don't think that you guys really want to suffer through that. Concerning this story, I was really, really sick yesterday. Actually, I'm still sick. But apparently, the virus has spread to my eyes, so I can't go a couple of minutes without crying. So, I'm really sorry that I didn't update yesterday. Please do not kill me! **

**Oh, yeah, I've hit chapter 20! Anyway, the last chapter was super boring, so I'm sorry about that. It was actually pretty tedious to write as well. What you should have gotten out of all of that: Dark Link and Shade's life forces are tied together (you know, as long as Shade's not dead, Dark Link survives), Link found out that Sheik in Zelda, and that Dark Link was imprisoned in the Twilight after he was defeated by Shade for the second time. I think that that's all the important stuff. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of this stuff. Other than plot. I do own the plot. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy! (and I'm still sorry about not updating yesterday!) **

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty: The Shadow Stretches _

For the first time in Midna's long life, she was contemplating how affective torture would be on politicians.

Not because she hadn't participated in torture. Midna could admit to herself that she was a little bit sadistic, and the Twilight hadn't always been the easiest place to be. It was more for the reason that she had never actually had to deal with politicians.

Well, there was Zant, but after everything that he had done, Midna didn't even acknowledge his status as a clan member, let alone as the advisor to the throne.

He was dead anyway.

His followers, on the other hand, were not. They were alive and kicking, and, from the general standpoint of Midna's poetic musing, pissing her off.

She was sooo glad that there were a copious amount of rocks in the Twilight Realm, because she really wanted to bang her head against one.

Apparently life wasn't simple after Link had offed Mr. Tall-Dark-And-In-Desperate-Need-Of-A-Haircut. After Link had killed Ganondorf, things were supposed to be easier. Midna had the Fused Shadows, which were currently stashed within her magic. Midna had been returned to her original, beautiful form, and she could honestly say that she missed it, although being an impetuous little imp had been fun at times.

Zant had died and been declared traitor as soon as Midna returned from the Twilight Realm and shattered the Mirror of Twilight. His followers, however, enjoyed messing with Midna. She'd dealt with riots and fights and the nasty lynching of one of her officers. Now she had the deal with the figurehead of this nonsense known by the name of Kal'Ene, who seemed to be rambling like an open water faucet.

Midna held up a hand while she rubbed her blue temples with the other one. She was dressed in the heavy ceremonial robes of the ruler of the Twilight. Her long orange hair was tied up in a loose topknot, adorned with pins.

She looked down on Kal'Ene. "Give me one reason why I should not kick you out of my throne room, because I am currently looking for tall buildings to throw myself off of."

The Twili looked at her with calculating red eyes. "Because we have a right to be heard! As members of the Twili race and the advisors of the late king Zant—"

"Okay, that's it." Midna snapped her fingers and two of her guards, covered in the black plated army of the royal family and the characteristic blue-green magic runes of the Twili people, came forward.

Midna sharply held out her hand to Kal'Ene. She flashed him two of her long, well-kept fingers.

"You have two options. Count 'em, two. You can either be thrown out of my palace—yes, that's right, _my palace,_ not that ungrateful traitor you call a king—by my lovely little guards here, or I could pull out my Fused Shadows and we can see how nice the floor of the room would look painted black with Twili blood."

Kal'Ene gulped.

"Guards, get him out of here. A word of warning, Kal'Ene—I worked hard for this throne. I strived to be the best ruler that I can be. Which means that your little _rebellion_"—Midna practically scoffed the word—"has to be put down. I've overlooked it for these past years as nothing but an annoyance. But you had to go and kill one of my generals. That was a wrong move. I'm giving you one chance to end all of this."

Midna cupped her hand in the air and suddenly one of the Fused Shadows—her favorite, the one that she used to use as a head piece—appeared in her palm. The look on her face was nearly demonic. "Or I'll get involved this time."

The leader of the Twilight Realm waved her hand and the ancient piece of magic disappeared. Midna sneered. "Get him out of my sight."

Her guards were almost too happy to comply.

Midna stretched and got up the throne. Sometimes she was so glad that she was ultimate authority in the land. Sure, it had been a bit of a pain while Zant was on his deluded quest for vengeance and blowing up nations in the process but now it was nice to finally be sitting on the throne that she was always meant to have.

No one threatened her rule. Of course, there had been some skirmishes with Zant's followers, but it was all pretty much taken care of. There was no reason that she should be worried.

Midna made her way to her personal chambers. Not often did she think of it, but sometimes she missed the World of Light and its vibrant colors and sunsets. Here, it was always twilight. Midna looked outside her window and watched the black squares floating through the ethereal orange glow. From her black granite window sill she could see the main courtyard of the palace. After she had returned to her home, pedestals had been made for the Sol Spheres, so their light stretched further.

If there was one thing that she truly wished for in the World of Light, it would be nighttime. The orange glow persisted through the days and the nights, and while all creatures in the Twilight slept, there was not that blanket of darkness.

But Midna loved her home. She had risked life and limb (and the life and limbs of many others especially a certain wolf-boy) for a chance for her to return to the Twilight Realm and see it returned to its former glory. No matter what she missed about the World of Light, there was no way that she would leave the Twilight. She was doing good here. Her people were prospering every day. Although there had been a few relapses, most of them maintained their humanoid forms and avoided slipping back into the mindset of the Shadow Beasts.

Midna sighed and pulled her long orange hair free of its loose bun, allowing to flow down her back. Compared to the Light World's standards, she wore skimpy and scandalous cloths, but in the Twilight that was the norm. The Twili were a free and open race, and they weren't bound by the same traditions as the Light. In any case, she always had liked the feel of the soft wind on her bare skin.

Moving to her bedside table, Midna opened one of the drawers to pull out one of the most precious things that she owned—a fragment of the Mirror of Twilight.

It was barely the length of her finger and would be useless concerning any form of teleportation between the two worlds. Since she was the true ruler of the Twilight, she had shattered the Mirror beyond recognition—but that didn't mean that there weren't useless little fragments of it left and that didn't mean that that was the only way to transverse the bridge.

For people like Link, with no magical power of speak of, yes, the Mirror was the only way to move between the two realms. But for people like Midna and Zant, who had an abundance of magical power, they could float through the two realms. It took nearly all the power that they had, but Midna could return to the Realm of Light if she truly wished.

She supposed that it was a good thing that she didn't really want to leave.

As Midna turned the tiny piece of Mirror over and over in her hands, she couldn't help but admire its beauty. The Mirror could turn people insane, possess the most harmless of creatures, but there was still something fundamentally alluring about the Mirror of Twilight. Maybe it was the unique brand of powerful magic that it exuded, a mix of the Light and the Twilight. Midna's hands ran over the small etched lines. It was almost sad to think that many would never remember its glorious beauty.

There was a knock on the door.

Midna was about to put the Mirror Shard back on the side table when something seemed to stop her.

Midna shook off the feeling, but she still tucked the Mirror Shard into the folds of her black gown.

"Enter," Midna said sharply.

It was one of her guards. Midna didn't know all of their names, since they changed so often, but she recognized Gren, just because he was so young.

"My queen, there's been a disturbance," he said softly. Gren was a soft-spoken Twili, but he was powerful, with a strong magical presence and the easy way that he held onto his black spear.

Midna immediately got to her feet. "Where? Is it Zant's followers again?"

"No, my queen. It's about the Relic Temple." Midna's blood went cold as the guard continued. "The Relic. It's gone missing."

* * *

The story of the Relic was an old nursery rhyme to the people of the Twilight. How, one day, the spirits of the three Golden Goddesses and the forces of the Four Light Spirits had appeared to the leader of the Twili, many centuries ago.

At that time, it had only been decades since the clan had been banished to this half-world, not completely in darkness and not completely in Light. Hatred, both for themselves and the Light-dwellers was still fresh in the mind of the Twili. However, the arrival of the Golden Goddesses or the Light Spirits was not something to be taken lightly. There was almost no force in the universe that could match their powers combined.

The Twili Ruler met with the powerful beings only to find out that they had a request for the people of Twilight.

A villain—one not known to our parts—had been a danger to Hyrule for a great number of years. A legendary Hero, one who fought with the ferocity of the beast, came and saved the Light World from this threat. However, this evil could no longer remain in the Light World—it was too tainted, too dark for that. In exchange for complete and utter pardon, as well as one of the Fused Shadows, they would store this dangerous criminal in the Twilight Realm.

Desperate for a piece of the power that they had once had, the Twili agreed immediately. They created a temple for this dangerous entity and it became known as the Relic. When the Goddesses placed the villain inside the temple and almost left, the youngest of the three, a young woman named Farore, turned back and looked to the Twili.

"Centuries from now, your people will undergo great strife," she spoke carefully, despite her sisters' warnings. "You will be desolate and alone. But remember this—there is always hope as long as there is a Hero. To your people, he will be known as a Divine Beast will blue eyes. When you feel there is no hope left, seek him."

After that, the Goddesses left. Fueled by passion at their words, they guarded the Relic diligently and promised to not let it fall into the wrong hands. But as the centuries went by, the stoic watch over the Relic dwindled, and life moved away from the past. While the prophecy of the Hero remained, the Relic was nearly lost to time.

Now only told as a bedtime story to the young ones, very few people knew that it was not a simple fairy tale.

It was real—and now it was gone.

Midna leaned down and placed her hands carefully on the dark black, worn marble that made the pedestal of the Relic's Temple.

"Strong magic lingers here," Midna said softly. "It's recent. Guards!"

She turned around sharply to the men who had followed her when she had left the palace. They lined up next to her, careful to keep their silent vigil forever watchful. They looked to her with the solemn red eyes that all of the Twili had.

Midna waved a hand in the air. "This is an emergency. We are going to act as though we are being invaded. We have no idea how powerful or what abilities this Relic possesses. But we can assume that it will come after the Twili people. This is war! Protect my people with your life!"

Her guards nodded and bashed their halberds on the floor.

"Now, go, and spread the word of this order. Allow my people to be prepared."

The guards left the temple, Midna trailing behind by only footsteps, two of her guards forever vigilant behind her.

She watched as each of her soldiers vanished in the blue-and-black squares of Twili magic. When the last one had faded, Midna turned to the Relic's Temple, looking at the crumbled black stone and broken archways.

Her vision faded to black as she summoned the familiar magic of Twilight teleportation around her, heading back to the palace.

Despite what Link thought, teleportation was not an instantaneous process. There was that moment of time when you were caught in limbo, this pure black space created by the magic. Whenever Midna would go through, she always had the odd feeling that she was being suffocated, crushed by the weight of the blackness that surrounded her.

The Relic had escaped.

What was she supposed to think? The Relic was a thing of legends, a remnant of the past. It had never been a threat before, and yet now, suddenly, it had up and walked off? Everyone knew that the Relic was a living being . . . but it shouldn't have been able to do that.

And there was something else . . . Midna had felt it, the faintest flicker of a magic that she had recognized. It had been only a moment, but she could sense. It was something that she knew like the back of her hand after all, considering that Zant used to be covered in it.

The magic of Ganondorf.

But why . . . why was it here, in all places, after three years?

Link . . . Midna couldn't help but allow her lips to curve into smile . . . Link killed Ganondorf three years ago. Midna had made sure of that. Hell, she had helped him end the beast Ganon. There was absolutely no way that he could still be alive.

Was there?

Midna came out of her teleportation to the smell of ash and fire.

Smoke stung at her eyes, which widened at the sight. Her palace, her castle, her home . . . in flames. The screams of the Twilight people as they were not burned, which would have been a mercy, but turned into the shadow beasts that they once were. The inky black and red of the old magic spread over her people, turning them back into the grotesque versions that they had been before. Midna looked around frantically.

"No! No! This can't be!"

She ran through the streets, trying to stop the fires and turn as many of the Twili back into their peace-loving selves. But apparently infection ran rampant, because only moments after Midna had turned them back, they would shift into their darker forms, screeching to the heavens.

Midna was quick in her effort to get to the main square, teleporting easily through the streets, ordering her soldiers to help the wounded. She had a chance! She could stop this from happening!

Not again. Never again.

When she reached the main square, she fell to her knees, her eyes wide and hopeless.

The Sols were gone.

The source of life for the Twili . . . they were gone. Their one remnant of Light had vanished. The Sols were like gods to the Twili. They couldn't be taken. No. No.

Midna got to her feet immediately. She had to do something. She had to get to Sols back. That should return her people to normal. Midna clenched her jaw. She would do whatever she had to do for her people. There was no such thing as no hope!

Midna sensed when the other approached. Without waiting for recognition, Midna lashed out with her magic.

It was blocked by a pure black blade.

It was Link.

Midna blinked twice. No, it just looked like Link. An exact copy of the Hero she had once known stood in front of her, this black, red-eyed being carried the weight of a Hero on his shoulders. The dark Master Sword had blocked her magic as if it was nothing.

Gathering another ball of magic in her hands, Midna took a step back, preparing for battle. "So you are the Relic," she said briskly.

"And you are the Twilight Queen," the other murmured. "Or well, you used to be."

Behind him, there was a shiver of darkness before the Twilight Beasts approached flocking behind the doppelganger. Midna clenched her teeth.

"You monster. You turned my own people against me."

The Relic laughed coldly. "Don't flatter yourself. Everything in this realm belongs to my master." Was it Midna's imagination, or did the Relic sound a bit bitter? "You were simply borrowing it for a while."

"Why are you doing this? Why now?"

The Relic did a few slashes in the air with his black blade. "I have been released. It is a part of my being to obey any who break my seal. I am under orders. To take an army from the Twilight Realm into the World of Light, and to remove a queen under the name of Midna."

"Try me!" Midna snarled, bringing out the Fused Shadows in a flash of light.

"Oh, believe me, I will," he said softly, before reaching a hand out to the Twilight Queen.

The Fused Shadows suddenly disappeared from her side, vanishing from her presence only to appear once more in the Relic's hands. Midna gaped at him as he twirled the three pieces of dark magic that she had spent her adventures in the Light World collecting.

The Relic looked surprised before stretching his hands and cracking his knuckles. "I will have to thank my master for these improved powers," he said softly, but Midna could hear him over the wind.

She was suddenly pushed back by a flurry of dark magic. This shouldn't be happening! She had the strongest magic in the realm, which was most likely why she had not been transformed into a beast, but to have her Fused Shadows stolen so easily . . . just who was this doppelganger?

As she hit the ground, her hair pin broke, releasing her violent orange hair to spread across her blue cheeks. Her knees and hands were cut as she fell, black and gray with both gravel and Twili blood. In her hand, she clenched the last of the Fused Shadows, the one that could never be taken from her. It was her last defense.

The Relic came towards her and sneered. "You didn't honestly think you were safe, did you?"

Midna couldn't believe that it had evened crossed her mind, but she knew that it was the right decision . . . she had to leave. She couldn't fight him by herself, he had stolen the Fused Shadows from her and turned her people into slaves . . . she needed Link.

And if it didn't burn her to admit that once again.

Apparently nothing had changed over the years. She was still weak, still in need of a hero to come and save her.

The doppelganger laughed. "This world is pathetic. You think that you are safe in the Twilight. But no, the Twilight houses the greatest evil of them all."

"You monster!"

He glanced over at her broken form. "How could you tell?"

Midna's eyes went wide with fear.

One thought echoed in her brain. _Run. _

If she wanted to live, to fight another day, to survive, she would have to run.

As Midna's eyes scanned the remnants of her palace, the burning towers and the sickly glow of fire against Twilight, she wondered if this was what Zelda had felt as she lost her kingdom. '

Midna closed her eyes and sighed. She had a chance to change things once again. It would take all her power, all her skills, and she probably wouldn't be able to return. But she had a chance to make things right.

She only had one shot.

Midna summoned all of her power, and for a moment she felt like the Fused Shadows were back in her hands again. But this rush of power didn't come from those ancient artifacts, it came from herself.

For a moment, she wasn't sure that she could even survive the crossing.

Midna pulled out her shard of the Mirror and used it as a focal point of her magic, hoping that it would ease her recoil.

And as she felt the familiar pull of Twilight magic, the last thing that she saw was the cruel sneer to the man who looked so much like her Hero.

But then she fell into the abyss, and thought eluded her.


	22. Ch 21: The Trials Of The Sheikah

**A/N: We're getting to the good stuff! Seriously. The stage has been set, now it's time for the fun to begin. Perhaps not in this chapter (it's not really action-y) but it's coming, I promise. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own LoZ.  
**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-One: The Trials of the Sheikah_

Link didn't like being dragged places. Which was the main reason that he went willingly with the Sheikah who came and got him. Now that he had a good look, he could tell that his guard had been a woman, with short cropped black hair, a cloth covering the bottom part of her face and a black tear on her left cheek. For a moment, Link thought that he had recognized her.

They walked through the tunnels in silence, just the two of them with Link's hands cuffed behind his back. Link, out of instinct, always looked right and left as they went through the tunnels, searching for a draft or a staircase—anything that would indicate a way out. But unfortunately, Link had a suspicious feeling that he would never be able to shake his guard, and even if he did, he would get lost easily.

The woman placed a hand on his shoulder. Link looked towards her expectantly.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked softly.

Link recognized the voice. "You're the guard who helped me."

The Sheikah shook her head. "Not about that. You met me in Ordon Village."

Link's mind flashed back to the village he had once called home—that knife that he had thrown in the trees, the short, almost rude, conversation that he had had with the Sheikah that he met there. Now that the woman had mentioned it, Link realized that he did know her—one of the princess's personal bodyguards.

"You're Zelda's bodyguard."

"Yes. I am Kukiel, the Sheikah sent to watch over the princess. I also receive her most dangerous missions."

"Are you here because of her?" Link didn't put it past the princess to have her hands in every jar.

"No. Yesterday was the annual meeting of all the Blooded Sheikah to discuss clan affairs. You choose a poor day to come knocking, Hero. It seems that the whole clan will be here to judge your trial."

It took determination and a mask of emotionlessness to prevent Link from being shocked by that particular revelation. But he'd get to that later. "If the princess didn't send you, why are you helping me?"

Kukiel paused. "Because the princess has deemed you to be an ally, and you are the Hero. We need you in this fight. It will do us no good if the Sheikah execute you."

"Execute?"

"Whether or not you did, the Sheikah clan believes that you have committed one of the highest crimes. Unless you can convince them of a different option, they will execute you."

Link exhaled slowly. "Is there any way to convince them that I'm innocent?"

A strange expression crossed her face. Before answering his question, Kukiel countered with one of her own. "How far are you willing to go to escape this?"

"What are you asking?"

"I'll give you one piece of advice then. If there seems to be no way out—if you have come to the decision that they're going to kill you no matter what you put in your defense—then you need to tell them that you want the Judgment of the Spell-Woven Pit. It's the only chance that you'll have of making it out of there alive."

"What is the Judgment of the Spell-Woven Pit?"

Kukiel glanced back at him once more as she led him through the maze of tunnels. As they went, the torches became more frequent, both lightening the tunnels and giving them a haunting glow at the same time. Ages seemed to pass before she spoke once more.

"Customarily, it is a test given to those who wish to become the next clan head. Although, in your case, it can be used to spare your life. But I give you the same warning—in the millennium that the Spell-Woven Pit has remained inside of these tunnels, only seventeen people have come out of it alive. Do not go down there unless you know that you will not survive the trials."

Link hesitated. "How will this save me?"

"The Spell-Woven Pit holds great shadow magic, the magic of the Sheikah clan. When a Blooded member of the Sheikah wishes to become the next clan head, they risk life and limb to go into the Spell-Woven Pit and be judged worthy. If they are worthy, they come out alive. If they aren't . . . you can guess what would happen." Kukiel paused. "If the trials don't work out in your favor, you can have a last ditch attempt to redeem yourself—by seeking the Judgment of the Spell-Woven Pit. If you come out alive, you will be cleared of your charges, because you have been judged by a higher power that us mere mortals."

Their footsteps echoed across the walls of the rounded tunnel.

Kukiel continued softly. "This is a gamble, Hero. Even if you are innocent, if you are not strong enough to head the Sheikah, you will be killed in the Pit. If you do by some miracle survive, you will be one of the Blue-Teared, and forever respected within this clan."

"The Blue-Teared?"

Kukiel roughly gestured to her own cheek. "Within the Sheikah, there are a certain group of people known as the Blooded. They are the ones who are granted the secrets of the Sheikah clan and are guardians of the realm. They are the strongest of the clan. We show this rank by having a black Tear upon our left cheek. Most Sheikah involved with anything of importance are Blooded. However, we have clan leaders, known as Shadows. They are the strongest of us all, and they carry the clan on their shoulders."

"Let me guess, the only way to become a Shadow is to survive the Spell-Woven Pit."

"Got it in one. If you come out of the Spell-Woven Pit, you are considered to be one of the legendary Shadows—there have only been seventeen in all existence. This rank, the rank of the Shadow, is marked by having a Blue Tear instead of the traditional black one."

Link's eyes widened as he suddenly thought back to that Sheikah woman that he had saved. It had along crossed his mind for a moment, before he had fought with Dark Link . . . but that woman had had a Blue Tear on her cheek.

"Wait . . . that woman in the Hidden Village . . ."

Kukiel seemed to look right into Link's soul with her dark black eyes.

"Now you see why you're on trial with the Sheikah. That woman who got hurt was Tempa, the current Shadow and clan head.

"And the entire clan thinks that you're the one who did it."

* * *

Somewhere, Dark Link was probably chuckling.

As far as Link was concerned, it was bad enough that he had some weird doppelganger roaming around the fields of Hyrule. Now he was on trial because of said doppelganger's actions. All in all, it made Link want to wring Dark Link's neck. He didn't consider himself an overly reckless man, but this situation definitely called for copious amount of violence.

After that declaration of Link's supposed crime, Kukiel didn't say much else. Link soft of wanted to thank her for everything she had done and for trying to save his life. But Link knew that she didn't do it because she actually wanted to save him. Link was pretty sure that Kukiel was convinced that he had been the one to mortally injure their Shadow. Whatever she was doing, she was doing out of her fierce loyalty to Princess Zelda and the orders to keep the Hero safe.

Kukiel lead him to a fork in the tunnels. There was a path directly to his right and to his left, but what concerned him was the door directly in front of him. It was round, like the ones that he would have found in the dungeons, but it was made of black granite, and carried the crying eye. Unlike most of the other Sheikah symbols that he had seen, this one was a faded purple, instead of the typical blood-red.

"These are the Chambers of Judgment," Kukiel said stiffly. "No one other than a Blooded Sheikah can open these doors. This is where your trial will take place. But be calm as you enter. As a warning, I should tell you that near the entire Blooded clan is inside, having gathered for the annual meeting before news of your crime reached their ears."

Link didn't even try protesting once again that he didn't do anything.

Kukiel bit her thumb and smeared the blood on her opposite palm. Without pausing, she placed her hand on the tear of the Sheikah symbol. As if invigorated by the blood, the symbol suddenly glowed a bright red—before the door, as a whole, faded away, leading into a round tunnel that was barely tall enough for Kukiel to walk through.

The Sheikah woman led the way and gestured behind her for Link to follow, not bothering with using words.

The tunnel was dark; unlike the rest of the interlocking caverns, this one did not have lanterns on nearly every wall. But there was a bright light at the end of the tunnel. When Link saw it, he straightened his back and breathed deeply. For some reason, he felt the same way now that he did when he was about to face a dungeon boss. Strong and determined not to lose.

For a moment, Link was blinded by the light as he exited the tunnel.

If it wasn't for his powerful control, Link would have gasped as he regained his vision.

He stood at the edge of a great circular chamber, with a single chair in the middle for the accused. There was a shoulder-high wall around the chair. Above that sat rows and rows of Sheikah. It was around the size of the clearing that he had lived in back in Ordon Village. A simple chandelier hung from the center of the chamber, whose walls were lined with rough stone. It was a rugged, simple place, and it looked like it had stood for centuries.

Apparently, the Sheikah had once been a much larger clan, because despite the copious amounts of space, there were only about thirty or so Sheikah in the rows, looking down on him from the rough tan stone seats. Every single one wore some variation of the clan's armored bodysuit, in varying dark shades of blue and black. They all wore the Sheikah symbol on their persons and sported a black tear under their left eyes. But each one was different. There were more woman in the audience than men, which surprised Link a bit, but he supposed that the Sheikah was one of the only groups that didn't have a gender bias.

In the center, directly in front of the stone chair that Link was led towards by Kukiel, was a platform higher than the rest of the rows. On it sat a man with rough brown hair that fell just below his ears and bright, calculating red eyes. He wore a black bodysuit and had the Shiekah symbol printed diagonally on his right thigh. His face was narrow and his frame was muscled. He was certainly larger than Link in sheer body mass. While he didn't have obscene muscles, it was clear that while Link moved with speed, he would move with strength.

Kukiel placed him none-too-gently in the stone chair before disappearing in a burst of shadow magic, only to reappear on the direct right side of the high-sat man; however, she didn't look very pleased with the arrangement.

The silence of the room was stifling and distracting. Link almost didn't catch the words that came out of the man's mouth.

"Name?"

A pause. "Link."

The man's face was expressionless, although there seemed to be an odd emotion behind it—one that Link didn't recognize but sent shivers down his spine. "You are better known as the Hero of Twilight."

It wasn't a question. Link felt no need to respond.

"I am Daime, the presider over this council in the absence of our clan chief. And why Tempa is absent is what we are here to discuss."

Daime paused before glancing down at Link with cold eyes. Link resisted the urge to squirm.

"You have been charged with the fatal attack of Tempa, our clan chief. This is a crime punishable by death within the Sheikah, whether or not you are a member of our clan. Do you deny these charges?"

"I do."

The first expression to pass Daime's face was shown by a smirk and a condescending glare. "You deny that you attacked the clan chief?"

"I saved her, not attacked her."

"Is that so . . ." Daime drawled out the words. Link shot him a glare that was returned only by a smile. "You would do well to recognize that we have examined Tempa very carefully. The same magical residue that is on her words was radiated off of your sword. You would do well to be careful how you speak."

Link licked his lips, wondering how much it was wise to reveal. "My blade has a copy—a darker half. It would be logical to assume that the two of them carry the same magical signature."

"How convenient for you. However, this other blade, if it exists was not found or sensed anywhere within miles of the Hidden Village. It would be _logical_, as you say, to assume that that blade was not there."

Daime was expressionless once again and his voice monotone, but Link could swear that he saw the man smirk. The way that Daime used words to his advantage . . . Link wanted to smack him. For someone like him, who knew the value of silence, he was nothing but annoying.

"Tempa was fatally wounded. We are not sure if she will make it to tomorrow. Three of the Sheikah who followed Tempa as reinforcements place a man who looked like you at the scene. As well, our trackers say that someone of your height, build and footsteps attacked Tempa. Unless you have a very identical twin, it would seem that you are the culprit."

_Not a twin, but a doppelganger, _Link wanted to say. But he couldn't. Something in his gut told him to keep Dark Link to himself. Even if it cost him this trial, there would be repercussions if he told the wrong people about Dark Link's existence. And something just didn't seem right with Daime. Maybe it was because he was trying to sentence Link to death.

While Link mulled things over, placing his life and the consequences on a scale, Daime watched him carefully.

"Well, Hero of Twilight, do you have anything in your defense? Anything other than hasty declarations? All evidence points towards you, and not one Sheikah would come to defend you."

Link's eyes slipped towards Kukiel, who sighed and shook her head.

Well, there goes that idea.

"Will anyone here attest to the Hero's innocence? If not, this trial will be closed, and as custom dictates, the criminal will be sentenced to execution."

Link's hopes sank faster than Iron Boots in Lakebed Temple as the silence stretched. He shouldn't have been surprised. Even Kukiel, who had helped him, seemed to think that he was guilty and was unwilling to speak for him. And three witnesses placed him on the scene. One would have been enough to sentence him. With three . . . he had to admit that their case was solid. If it wasn't for that fact that _he didn't do it. _

Why did they even have a trial? It was obvious to everyone from the beginning that he would be tried guilty—even Kukiel, who had told him a desperate measure to save his life.

Or perhaps kill him faster. He wasn't sure about the woman's motives.

Like everything else, he assumed that the trial was tradition. A shadow of fairness when someone is accused of a high crime.

Daime cleared his throat to end the echoing silence.

"Therefore, as acting clan chief, I declare that the criminal, Link, known as the Hero of Twilight, will be exec—"

"Wait."

Link's soft voice cut over Daime's easily. The man stopped and looked at him with cold fury burning in his eyes as if asking who he was to interrupt him so. Link swallowed once, aware that all of the Sheikah's eyes were on him.

"I ask for the Judgment of the Spell-Woven Pit."

Silence stretched.

At that moment, in the Chambers of Judgment amongst nearly all of the Blooded members of the Sheikah, all hell broke loose.

Some of the members got to their feet and loudly voiced their opinions. Others sat there looking horrified, perhaps in shock after his declaration. Daime himself looked like someone had punched him in the gut. When Kukiel met Link's eyes, he could have sworn that he saw her smile.

For what reason, Link assumed that he would never know.

Daime was the first to recover. "Order!"

It took a few minutes, but eventually all of the Sheikah had calmed down (or at least fumed in silence) and sat back down on the rough stone benches.

Daime exhaled slowly. "You ask for the Judgment of the Spell-Woven Pit? Are you aware of what that entails?"

No, he didn't. But Link could bluff with the best of them, and Goddess help him if that wasn't what he was doing right now.

"I want to be judged by a being beyond mortal, since none of you feel like seeing the truth."

For a second, Daime looked conflicted under his mask. He tilted his head for a moment, which seemed to be an odd gesture for him. Kukiel was watching him with dark black eyes. When Daime straightened out one more, the indecision was gone from his face and his red eyes glinted unnaturally.

"Very well." He smirked. "I wish you luck."

Probably the type of luck that caused the Twilight to appear.

* * *

Link found him walking through the tunnels with Kukiel just like before. The woman didn't say anything to Link as she led him deeper and deeper into the tunnels. Not only were the moving further and further away from the Chambers of Judgment, they also were headed in a sharp decline towards. The air got colder and colder as they went.

As if it wanted to freeze them in place.

Link didn't know what Kukiel felt about the trial or how it had worked out. But at the moment, he didn't care. All he was concerned with was getting through the trials alive. After all, only seventeen people had survived.

But losing wasn't an option for Link. After everything that he had been through, there was no way that he would fall now. After all, there was nothing that he could accomplish if he was dead. Someday, like Shade, he would die when this timeline no longer needed a Hero. But Hyrule needed him. And he could do nothing to help her if he was dead.

There was a gust of cold air through the tunnel. When Link exhaled, he breathed out a white cloud of smoke. The tunnels were darker than ever. Here, instead of the typical lamps, the corridors were illuminated with glass balls that radiated soft red light. It gave the entire tunnel an eerie look.

Kukiel looked back at him. "We are almost there." She paused before snapping her fingers. Curls of shadows appeared around her hand before disappearing. When they cleared, Kukiel was holding the Master Sword and his magical pouch from Midna. Hesitant of the shadow magic, he slipped the sword and shield onto his back and pouch onto his waist.

Risking a question, he looked to Kukiel. "Can all of the Sheikah do that?"

Surprisingly, she answered. "Nearly all of them. It's not a genetic trait or anything. Shadow magic is a secret to the Sheikah and can be taught to anyone who is inducted into our ranks. There are a few members, however, who have completely immunity to magical arts and simply can't learn it. But it's not much of a handicap. Shadow magic does little for us other than the ability to blend into the Shadows and store thing there. It is an asset for stealth missions, but practically useless in battle."

"That's intriguing."

"You'll hear much more about it before you are done, Hero," Kukiel said softly. She gestured in front of them. "If you continue straight, you'll come across the Spell-Woven Pit."

Link nodded and drew his sword. He bowed once to Kukiel before he headed off.

He almost missed Kukiel's last words before she bent the shadows around her and disappeared.

"Good luck."

Unlike Daime, he had a feeling that she actually meant it.

Link exhaled softly before stalking down the tunnel and brushing off the cold air that seemed to surround him. The lanterns disappeared and it got darker and darker. For a moment he considered turning into a wolf to use his senses, but the thought vanished quickly. He still wasn't sure how much control he had over his transformations after being away from the Master Sword for who knows how long. Even with the sacred blade resting securely on his back, he didn't want to risk it. He might need a blade for whatever trial he was about to face.

There was no door, but Link could tell when he had entered into the Spell-Woven Pit.

Mainly because the tunnel behind him vanished, fading into a perfectly circular room. Its walls were made of black-veined marble, curved with intricate patterns. The Sheikah eye was a reoccurring theme. In the center of the chamber there was a pedestal with a large sword on it. The sword was a dull gray and covered in carvings that matched the ones on the walls. The only color on the blade was the red Sheikah symbol at the base of the blade. Suddenly, Link was reminded of his fight with Death Sword in Arbiter's Grounds. His hand gripped his own sword slowly.

He didn't sense malice in the air. In fact, the chamber was filled with small glowing white particles that illuminated the room. Link was suddenly wistful for the Sacred Grove, which was filled with the same floating specks of magic.

He sensed a shift in the room.

It was a flicker in the corner of eye actually. Link turned and saw a translucent, vaguely humanoid shape move towards the sword. Link took a step back with a hand on the Master Sword. The ghost? Spirit? . . . picked up the sword and the magic seemed to shimmer for a moment. The presence suddenly faded into physical being.

It was a woman who was probably around a head taller than Link. Her gray hair was short and slicked back. It was obvious that she was Sheikah by her gray and black bodysuit and the Sheikah symbol on the back. Her red eyes were watchful. Her skin was a deep color and her eyes were sharply pointed. She was probably in her thirties or forties despite her hair color. Instead of the typical one-eyed tattooing, two tears adorned her cheeks. One of them was black; the one under her right was blue.

The woman glanced at Link and almost gave a smile.

"Do you remember me?"

Was he supposed to? Link cocked his head to the side.

The woman chuckled. "It's odd to see you here. Very odd. Do you truly not recognize me?" Seeing his reaction, she sighed. "A shame. Well, then . . . I should reintroduce myself."

She hoisted the sword up so that it rested across her shoulder.

"I am Impa, the Sage of Shadow."


	23. Ch 22: Broken Portals

**A/N: Lots of announcements this week: **

**First off, this story is now longer than 100,000 words! Secondly, it has more than 20,000 hits and 200 reviews! The 200th reviewer was Arcane Valor! Yay! I don't think that I could have ever gotten this far without all of your help, so thank you all very much for your continued support. **

**Is now a good time to mention that the story's not even half-done yet? Well, I mentioned it!**

**In more prevalent news, I should mention that I'm not going to be updating next week. It's my Spring Break, and I will be away from my laptop for that week. No laptop, no update. Sorry about that. The next update will be April 2nd. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight Princess.**

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-Two: Broken Portals _

"This is the Hidden Village? It is not very impressive."

Nephenee's words summed up what Colin was feeling looking at the depressing place. There wasn't a single building that wasn't ruined. The wind blew through the dusty town and picked up tumbleweeds and made the rusty old signs on broken hinges creak. It seemed to be empty.

Ren was in front of them and strangely, his lantern had disappeared. He had had it when they had been walking in the tunnel . . . right? Colin decided not to dwell on the issue. It wasn't like the Sheikah was going to tell him.

Colin was oblivious on the harsh silence that existed between his two companions. After he had bandaged all of Nephenee's wounds, she hadn't even bothered to tell him whatever was wrong with her, or whatever had been said. But Colin knew that it had to do with Ren. But, no matter how much he cared or tried to fix it, it wasn't his place.

Unfortunately, that made Ren even more silent while Nephenee tried to act normally and failed dismally at it. Colin should have known that things between the two of them wouldn't work out that well. How many fights had he witnessed between Ilia and Link over the years? Although in retrospect, they were always pretty much one-sided—Ilia shouting while Link just stood there, and it usually had to do with a horse who could care less about the situation.

Colin internally sighed, but said nothing. It wasn't the time for such nonsense anyway, and their stony silence wasn't truly hindering their progress in any way, even if it did grate on Colin's nerves.

Ren glanced around at the village before smiling softly. "I used to live here."

Nephenee glanced back at Ren, tilting her head. "Do you no longer?" she asked softly, filled with an emotion Colin couldn't understand.

"There's a woman who lives here, her name's Impaz. She used to take care of me as a child. She would tell me stories about the Sheikah and the old ways. However, when the village became overrun with monsters, she sent me away to Castle Town for my own safety. There, I met a Sheikah man who accepted me into the clan and trained me in the ways of the Sheikah."

"And what about this woman, Impaz? Why did she not leave?"

Ren shook his head and he looked around at the village with nostalgia. "She had a duty passed down from the old Shadows, the clan chiefs. They had a duty to give her, to wait in the old village for a Hero who needed to return to the sky."

Colin paused his stride. "You couldn't mean Link?"

Ren shrugged. "I'm not sure. It's possible after all. But in all actuality, the only Hero I know of is Link."

The conversation faded into silence as Colin and Nephenee flanked behind Ren as he lead them through the village. Colin couldn't feel any outright signs of malice, but at the same time, he couldn't sense the presence of anyone other than the little trio that they were huddled in.

It was as if the village was as empty as it looked.

Nephenee leaned over towards him. Her arm was wrapped in bandages up to the elbows, remnants of her self-inflicted pain. Colin was more suited to healing than fighting in the long run, so he made sure that the wounds would heal properly and not leave horrible scars, but Nephenee would probably carry the reminders for the rest of her life.

She slowed her pace so that she hung behind Ren a bit, just out of earshot if she was quiet. Colin immediately slowed his walk to match hers.

"There is no one here," Nephenee whispered. "I cannot sense anyone within the immediate vicinity."

Colin grimaced. "I know. I can sense it too. I'm sure that Ren knows. He's got higher perception abilities than either one of us."

"Then what is he seeing that we are not?"

Colin didn't have an answer for her.

Ren lead them to the house in the back of the village, knocking softly on a barred door. After waiting a few moments, met with only a stony silence, Ren knocked the door over with a well-placed, powerful kick. As the splintered wood hit the floor, a cloud of dust came into existence. Nephenee coughed while Colin wrapped his red scarf across his face.

"Was that truly necessary?" Colin asked softly.

Ren didn't answer. He tilted his head and shuffled slowly through the house, his feet not leaving the floor. He placed his hands in front of his body in a guard and suddenly a blade appeared in his hands, the shadows twitching as it came into existence.

Suddenly, he relaxed and breathed out an audible sigh of relief. He directed his low voice to the darkness. "I was so worried that you were killed."

Colin didn't know how it had happened, but suddenly, the shadows seemed to vanish as an old woman now stood in their place. Colin rubbed his eyes twice while Nephenee started before cursing under her breath in quick Gerudo before doing an odd sort of sign across her tattooed arm. Colin glanced over at her with a raised blonde eyebrow.

"Protection from evil," Nephenee murmured. "From the dark ways."

The woman only came up to Colin's chest, and he wasn't that tall himself. In all actuality, Nephenee was only an inch or two shorter than him. She was wrinkled and hunchbacked, with a sense of fragility surrounding her. Despite that, there was a warm glow in her brown eyes. She looked at Ren with fondness.

Ren gave a small smile to the woman and pushed his black hair back with his pale hand. "You scared me there, Impaz. I was worried that you had died."

The woman, Impaz, smiled softly. "My duty may have been fulfilled, but I have no intention of leaving this world behind. The Goddesses don't have a need of me just yet."

"What's going on?" Ren asked softly. "I can feel the faint presence of Tempa and other Sheikah, although they have faded now. And the presence of lingering evil. Have the monsters come back?"

"It depends on what you mean by monster, my child," Impaz said softly as she sank down on one of the dusty chairs. Impaz glanced at the splintered wood that was once her door, illuminated by the moonlight. "You're going to fix that."

Ren winced. "I know."

Colin and Nephenee sat down on the earthen floor while Ren remained standing. Now that there was no longer a threat, they felt no need to be overly cautious. Nephenee cracked her back while Colin yawned beneath a hand.

"It had been a short time since you were last here, Ren, that I sensed a Dark force surrounding my village. In desperation, and knowing that it would require her particular brand of expertise, I called Tempa here to figure out what was causing the disturbance. It took her a few days, but she did arrive. I was under orders not to leave the house, and I obeyed. Whatever malicious force that had broken the protection of this village was not to be taken lightly. I could feel its stifling presence from here."

"Tempa came? She should know that the clan's in political upheaval right now." Ren said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Can you not sense it? That dark presence . . . it's not natural. It doesn't belong here."

Ren stiffened. "How much do you suspect?"

"No more, no less than most. There is nothing to suggest otherwise, but we may have lost our luck this once. That was the reason that Tempa came here to see me."

Ren shut his eyes harshly for a moment before exhaling slowly. "I understand. That must be dealt with later than. We're looking for someone who may have come through here. You know him—that Hero clad in green."

Impaz looked shocked. "The Sky Messenger!"

Nephenee glanced over at Colin who only shrugged before turning back to Impaz.

Ren nodded. "We're looking for him. Did you see him come through here?"

" . . . I may have. Tempa was badly wounded in her fight against the malicious entity. When I came out of my house once more, hers wasn't the only body they were dragging away. I couldn't get a good look, but it could be the Sky Messenger. I don't know why they would want him . . . He's a sweet boy . . ."

Colin could practically see the cogs in Ren's brain working in overdrive, connecting pieces of a shattered puzzle. In the end, he seemed to give up on the endeavor.

"Impaz, we'll need to stay here for a few hours and rest. After that, I need you to take these two into the Tunnels. I'll follow shortly. I would take them myself, but I can't risk breaking the Oath."

Impaz nodded. "I understand. For now, why don't I put on some tea and you can talk about what you're getting into."

The woman shuffled away, but not before Ren lit a lamp and held it out for her. Impaz took it gratefully, and Ren had the softest look that Colin has ever seen on his face.

"You really care about that woman, do you not?"

To Colin's surprise, Nephenee was the one who had spoken. It was the first words that she had directly said to Ren in nearly a day. Ren glanced over at the Gerudo girl with guarded black eyes before giving a small smile.

"She's the closest thing that I've ever had to a mother," Ren said.

Nephenee tilted her head. "I wonder what it is like."

"What?" Colin asked.

"Having parents." Seeing the look on Colin's face, Nephenee shrugged. "When a Gerudo is born into the tribe, they are raised by the entire clan, not by a single woman. I do not even know who my mother was. Direct blood means little to my people, because to us, we are all related." Nephenee's golden eyes flicked over to Ren's stoic form. "To us, we are all of the same blood. We are all family."

A staring contest had seemed to ignite between Ren and Nephenee, with Colin sitting in the middle, both concerned and confused. He could feel the sparks in the air and wondered who exactly, had lit the flame.

The never-ending silence was broken by a sharp crack and a shriek.

Colin and Nephenee immediately got to their feet, drawing their weapons while Ren called to Impaz to hide herself and stay there. When Impaz responded with an affirmative, Ren followed his two companions outside at a breakneck pace, only to stop suddenly to prevent running into Nephenee's back.

Colin wasn't really sure what he was looking at. It was a person—or at least it looked like one. A very little person. With glowing green-blue lines racing up her black-white-orange legs and torso and a strange mask/headpiece covering one eye and pulling back her violent orange-yellow hair. The creature pulled herself to her feet, dusting off her body before shouting in a strange language to the sky, particularly the dark portal in the sky.

Nephenee glanced at Ren and Colin. "What should we do? She does not seem to be a threat."

"Looks can be deceiving," Ren said. "Those markings mean that she's a Twili, so she must have considerable magical power. After the Twilight War, I'm not sure if we can trust her. . ."

"Colin, what do you think? . . . Colin?"

Colin paused for a moment. There was something that he should recognize about her . . . he paused.

"Are . . . are you Midna?"

Nephenee gasped. "You mean the one from Link's stories?"

Ren looked to be processing them information, but there was recognition in his eyes. Princess Zelda had probably told him about the Twilight Princess.

The creature turned to look at the three of them for the first time. She gave a wolfish smile before twirling and levitating in midair, crossing her small legs.

"If it isn't the little Ordon boy," she said snidely, but there was no malice behind her words.

"You know me?"

"I never forget face. Especially one that I've copied."

Ren stepped forward, glancing between the two of them. "I'm clearly out of the loop, but I suppose that you're one of the Twili. The Hylian royal family was under the impression that you could not travel across the worlds without the Mirror of Twilight, which was shattered."

Midna sighed, placed her hand across her chin as she hovered once more. Beneath her, Nephenee looked caught between doing the same exorcising motions she did before and looking at the imp in awe.

"Breaking the Mirror might have been an error in judgment on my part, I will admit. But I had the Fused Shadows and extremely powerful magical abilities. There would be no reason that I shouldn't have been able to transverse the gap." Midna glanced down at her diminished form. "Although not without considerable cost to myself. I probably won't be able to return to my original form. Shame, really."

Ren continued without any reaction to Midna's information. "Why are you here?"

Midna sighed. "Because some idiot thought that breaking the Relic's seal and taking over my Twilight Realm would be a fun idea. With no other options, I had to camp out here in the land of the Light. Which is a pain, if I do say so myself."

"No, I meant here specifically."

"That's actually a harder question to answer," Midna said. "After I returned to the World of Light, I tried to go through my portals—"

"Your portals?" Ren asked.

Midna waved a hand impatiently to the blocky portal in the sky. "Of course. Link and I made all of the little portals all across Hyrule. I used to use them to travel through the land with Link. Surely he told you that?"

Nephenee was just about to refute that, yes, Link had told them about his adventures and his teleporting abilities when Midna continued speaking once more.

"I was supposed to be heading to Castle Town, to talk to Zelda, but somehow I ended up here, in the middle of the Hidden Village, with the three of you, who seem to know who I am."

"Link told us," Colin supplied.

Midna gave a high pitched giggle. "I can guess that. What I don't understand is why my portals are broken."

"Your magic is . . . broken?" Nephenee asked, speaking to the Twili Imp at last.

"I don't know you," Midna said in an odd tone of voice. "I don't know you, and yet you carry the aura of Link—as a wolf. He showed his second form to you?"

Nephenee nodded her head to Midna in a slight bow. "My name is Nephenee. Link transformed in front of me to save my life."

"Throwing caution to the wind as always . . ." Midna murmured before clearing her throat and speaking up. "Anyway, it's not my magic that's broken, it's the portals. Something's blocking them. I bet it's that good-for-nothing Relic. He's familiar enough with Twilight magic to shut them all down. He's jumbled up all the magical pathways. Damn him."

There was a moment of silence. Ren was watching Midna in apprehension while Colin showed acceptance and Nephenee slight fear of her magic.

Midna looked around at the three of them. "Ordon boy—"

"Colin."

"Whatever. Where's Link?"

A short silence.

"He's missing," Ren said shortly. "We think that he's in the Sheikah Tunnels."

"The Shiekah . . ." Midna rolled the word around on her tongue. "Now there's a term that I haven't heard in a long time. I suppose that the lovely little Miss Zelda decided to give the bodyguards another go?"

"Her father, actually," Ren said coldly.

"Oh, well, one of the two. A wise decision. This realm needs reliable protection, and apparently Link's in no shape to do that himself."

Ren paused. "While this is very stimulating conversation, I'm afraid that I can't consider you a friendly until you tell us what's going on—including why you came here."

Midna glanced over at Ren with her one shocking red visible eye. "You're one of the clan members aren't you? A Sheikah."

"I'm Ren. One of the Sheikah assigned directly to Princess Zelda."

"And I'm Midna, Queen of the Twilight." She giggled and twirled a bit where she levitated. "Perhaps you want to sit down, Ren, because I've got quite the story to tell . . ."

* * *

Midway through the story, Impaz came out with that pot of tea that she had promised, disregarding the warning that Ren had given her once she sensed no danger. Ren wasn't that pleased. Impaz may have been a honorary member of the clan and given privileges that no other member had, but she did not have the fighting skills that they were famed for. Why didn't realize that he was only trying to keep her safe? But then again, Impaz had always been like that. She knew when to retreat and when to approach.

To his surprise, Impaz came up to Midna without any apprehension in her eyes. And Ren knew about his foster mother's fear of monsters and otherworldly beings. But Impaz smiled and greeted Midna with a smile and a nod.

"The Messenger's guide."

Midna glanced up in alarm. "I was unaware that you knew of my presence during the Twilight War."

"There is little you can hide for one possessing Shadow Magic," Impaz said lightly.

Midna looked doubtful.

Impaz laughed. "I saw you transforming and Link talking to the cats as a wolf. I guess that you assumed that I wasn't watching."

"Damn. I thought that I had been careful."

Impaz had only laughed before returning to her broken house—now missing a door—with the teacups in hand.

Midna glanced back at the old woman with nostalgia before continuing the tale of Link and his wolf forms, and about how she had returned to the Twilight Realm and shattered the Mirror of Twilight to make sure that no one could abuse either world like they had.

Ren wasn't really sure what to make out of the little Twilight Imp. Unlike the other two, he wasn't a companion of Link. He didn't know or trust the Hero the way that they did. He wasn't sure if this Twili was lying through her unnaturally pointed teeth.

But Impaz trusted her. He supposed that that had to count for something.

But Ren wasn't trained to trust that easily. He would watch this Midna before reporting back to Zelda once this entire fiasco was over. Because he was really getting the feeling that Zelda was out to kill him.

They were orders, that was all. Colin and Nephenee may have thought that he was helping them out of the goodness of his heart, but they were wrong. He was helping them because of the goodness of Zelda's heart. And as a Sheikah, that was enough of an excuse for him. Besides, it wasn't like he . . . disagreed with what they were doing. Hyrule did need a Hero after all. And if he was being completely honest, non-Sheikah company was rare in his line of business . . . the easy familiarity he now had with Colin and Nephenee was something he would miss when his mission was over.

" . . . And then I came back here, searching for Link," Midna ended quietly. "I have to find him and warn Zelda before the Relic finds a way to cross the gap like I did. With the Fused Shadows and the amount of unnatural power that he holds, it shouldn't be long, if he's not here already."

Ren's mind worked swiftly. That darker presence that he and Impaz had felt . . . perhaps it was already too late.

"I can warn the rest of the Sheikah once we get into the Tunnels. Hopefully we'll find Link there as well," Ren said softly. "But I'm not sure how helpful the Sheikah are going to be. With Tempa out of commission, the responsibilities of clan chief fall to Daime, the elected second. I'm not sure how much of a help he's going to be. He's actually more likely to be a hindrance."

"Is he really that bad?" Colin asked curiously.

Ren grimaced, allowing his emotions to slip through his mask. "Clearly you've never met the man. He has the ability to make Sheikah lose their temper."

Nephenee let out a low whistle.

"Don't worry, Nephi, I'm pretty sure that you share that trait—OW! Abuse!"

Nephenee only smirked while Midna chuckled.

"In any case, we don't have much time. We've rested for long enough. Impaz!"

The woman walked out of her house at a leisurely pace. Her face was solemn, but still retained that smile. "I suppose that you're leaving me again, dear?"

"I'm sorry, Impaz, I'll return as soon as I can," Ren said softly.

"Don't worry, I understand duty. Do well for me," Impaz said and placed a hand across her child's face. They stood like that for a moment, a very tall, black-haired Sheikah and the short aging woman who was worried about him. Impaz removed her hand and turned to Colin and Nephenee. "You two will have to come with me."

"Ren's not coming?" Colin asked with a glance over in Ren's direction.

"He is a Sheikah," Impaz explained. "He can enter the Tunnels without my help. You two will have to follow me. There's a single entrance to the Tunnels that I alone can open underneath my house."

"I'll meet you on the other side," he said.

Midna floated over to the four of them. "I'm coming with you. I have to find Link."

Ren paused. Midna could be a liability if she was discovered. The Sheikah didn't have any good memories of the Twilight War . . .

"You can come as long as you remain hidden," Ren stated decisively.

Midna smiled before flipping up in the air and disappearing into Colin's shadow. Colin glanced around, staring at his shadow intently.

There was a giggle. "No matter how hard you try you won't be able to see me. I can perfectly blend into shadows. To the point where there is no difference between the shadow and myself."

Colin rubbed the back of his neck abashedly. Ren had a certain amount of respect for the humble Ordon swordsman, just as he had respect for the powerful lithe Gerudo girl who looked determined and strong. They were powerful warriors, and excellent allies to have.

As Impaz started herding the younger warriors into her house once more, Ren sped off to the furthest corner of the village, a towering rock wall that surrounded the small settlement. It was the closest entrance into the Tunnels.

Ren bit his thumb until it bled. With the crimson liquid, he carefully drew the outline of a Tear. The blood glowed once before fading outward, taking the stone with it as it disappeared, leaving a completely circular door into the dark abyss that was the Sheikah Tunnels.

Ren sighed once before entering the dark cavern.

Being swallowed by the darkness.

He was unaware of the glowing red eyes that watched him.


	24. Ch 23: The Will Of The Princess

**A/N: Okay, I hope everyone had a good Easter, if you celebrate it. **

**ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm going to be super busy for the next month and a half. My job starts up soon and I've got exams to study for. Mid-May, I should be back in action, but until then, it's going to be rough riding for me. I'll try to keep to my schedule, but sometimes my updates will be late by a couple days. Also, I will not be updating next Tuesday. Sorry about that. Like I said, super busy. I might as well give you the heads up. If everything works out, my next update should be the 16th. I'm sorry about the double missed weeks. **

**Thank you for all of the reviews! Feel free to PM about anything in the story. Or, if you want a response to your review, simply mention it in the review and I'll send you a PM.**

**And the action begins . . . **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-Three: The Will of the Princess_

Zelda relaxed on her bed.

There was no time for relaxation, she knew. But sometimes things got too heavy. She carried the Triforce of Wisdom, but unlike most of the other big power players in this game of chess, she didn't have the same strength behind her fists. She survived in this world by being one step ahead, by being careful and thinking from all different angles.

She had to influence everything. Or at least she had to try.

She _had _to make Link get to the Sages and hopefully find some answers about this revived Ganondorf and his weaknesses. She _had _to make sure that the Gerudo didn't cause any more upheaval than they already had. She _had _to keep the throne in her own hands and fix the corrupt society she lived in. She _had _to prepare the armies for the inevitable war.

There was not a moment to let her guard down.

But Zelda did as she tucked her thin gloved arm behind her head and sighed, staring up at the drapes that surrounded her immaculate bed.

_Princess Zelda. _It was her curse to bear. It was the weight on her shoulders. She would make sure that Hyrule made it through the darkness that was spreading. As Zelda's eyes flashed the color of cold steel, she knew that she would break as many people as she had to in order to keep her country safe.

She would step on the Hero's toes if she had to. She would manipulate her best friend, her closest confident, like a common servant in order to protect the people. She wouldn't flinch if she had to kill someone for the good of her nation.

A soft wind from the window blew her drapes in soft shimmery patterns. Zelda immediately hoisted herself up on her elbows, only to allow them to drop and land roughly on the bed once more.

She had thought that one of the Sheikah had returned.

But there was no Kukiel; there was no Ren. She had sent out the people closest to her heart to handle the jobs that only they could do. Ren had to guide the Hero's friends. Kukiel had to guide the Hero himself. But she wasn't able to squelch that urge that one of them would return and remove this dreadful, lonely feeling from her shoulders.

Zelda depended more on them more than she had ever wished to.

Especially Ren. Despite the way that he acted, Ren was two years younger than her. He was the most loyal Sheikah under her command, and that included Kukiel, whose fierce independence occasionally made her second-guess orders. Ren would never do that. He didn't always trust the orders that came from the clan, but if a command left Zelda's lips and into Ren's hands, then it would be carried out. Ren had always followed the orders that the princess had given him, no matter what they were or how crazy they seemed. It wasn't simply duty to the crown, Zelda knew.

Ren trusted her. He trusted her decisions and the choices that she made, even if he didn't understand them himself.

And, although she hated to admit it, Zelda wasn't above exploiting that fact for her own gain.

But she did miss the easy friendship that she had had with Ren. Things had changed once Ren had been sent on that mission to the south-east—suddenly there was not time anymore. Zelda had a war to fight, Ren had orders to follow. There was too much on her plate now. But she still missed that companionship that she had once had with Ren and Kukiel. Before all of her words were weighted down with the threat of battle over their heads. Before she gave out more orders than casual conversation.

Another gust of wind ruffled the folds of her soft pink dress adorned with small lace flowers. Her hair was loose today and she had thrown the silver informal circlet that she wore in place of her jewels on the night table before laying down on the bed.

At the moment, she didn't feel like a princess.

She was Zelda, just Zelda.

But as she sensed a familiar presence slip into the window with the wind, she knew that she couldn't stay that way for long.

Zelda released an internal sigh as she hoisted herself on one elbow before swinging her legs over to the side of the bed to sit in a more dignified position. As she slowly allowed her eyes to slip over to her visitor, she wasn't surprised to see that it was Kukiel. Only two people were allowed into her bedroom without announcement, and she knew that it wasn't Ren.

Ren slipped in often. Most of the times it was on official business, the report of a mission. She gave Ren far more missions than Kukiel, who was continually tasked to protect her and couldn't leave on that many orders. Sometimes he would slip in when he didn't want to return to the Tunnels or when he had an especially bad mission. Zelda would sit down and they would talk about everything that was wrong with the nation. They would talk about the Sheikah and the clan and Zelda's daily doing—anything other than the topic that Ren was running from. Sometimes it was the other way around. Sometimes Ren would enter through her window silently because he knew that Zelda was having a bad day, or when she was feeling like the world was crashing down on her shoulders.

He had slipped in her window the first time that Shen had confronted her about his advances. He talked to her after Zelda had lost her father to the Twilight Beasts. They would sit down and pull out a chess board and he would drop her title for just a moment, acting like they were normal friends.

Ren was the one who had taught her how to be a Sheikah. They had met before she had decided to join them, when Zelda was twelve and Ren was ten. They used to play together—or rather, Zelda would try to get him to play while he "protected" her with a longing expression on his face. Ren was part of the reason that she had decided to join in the Sheikah in the first place. Zelda thought that it would have been Kukiel teaching her, when she pushed to become a member of the shadowed clan and was accepted. But Ren had showed up the next day and told the fifteen-year-old princess that he was going to be her teacher. He looked so serious for a thirteen-year-old kid, but he had taught her everything that she needed to know to be a Sheikah.

And she had repaid him by sending him on life-threatening missions and manipulating him. Sometimes she truly hated what she did for the greater good. But under no circumstances did that mean that she was going to stop.

Zelda turned and looked at Kukiel. "Report," she said as she always did, but Zelda was tired and it showed in her voice. She didn't look at Kukiel as she said it; the floorboards were much more interesting.

Kukiel shifted on her feet. "Are you alright, princess?" she asked softly.

Zelda looked over to Kukiel and gave a smile. "I've just got a lot on my mind, especially with the war approaching. General Falnoff's trying to get the troops ready, but it's going a lot slower than it should. I fear that they won't be battle ready in time."

The black-haired Sheikah nodded solemnly. "I fear that I don't bring any good news."

Zelda sighed.

Seeing the look on the princess's face, Kukiel walked over and sat down cross-legged on the bed behind Zelda, running her calloused fingers through the princess's loose hair. Zelda was about to ask what her bodyguard was doing before she felt the familiar motions of French-braiding behind her.

A small smile graced Zelda's face. "You haven't braided my hair since I was a child, Kuki."

"Well, you looked like you could use it. I remember when you decided that having long hair was too much of a pain and told Ren to cut it all off with a knife when you were thirteen."

"And he did it too. Well, it was better than me doing it. At least Ren made it all even."

"Your father was so mad to you. He said that you looked more like a prince than a princess."

Zelda laughed. "Well, I still looked like a ten-year-old boy back then. I was a bit of a late bloomer. You used to say that Ren and I could have passed for twins."

"You did look a lot alike back then, you have to admit. Your hair was darker and you were a lot tanner than you are now," Kukiel gave a quiet laugh and she continued sectioning off the young princess's hair. "You and Ren used to spar in the courtyard back before you started your Sheikah training. It was clearly one-sided, but he would always let you win. You'd spit in his eye and gloat before feeling insulted that he didn't go all out."

"Ren and I have always been close. You know, he's been doing most of my paperwork for the past few weeks. I don't really see him doing it, but I can tell when half of my scrolls disappear in the morning. He thinks that I don't know," Zelda added softly.

Kukiel smoothed out some of Zelda's soft brown hair. "Is there someone wrong with him trying to help you out?"

"No, I guess not."

Comfortable, companionable silence echoed as Kukiel slowly braided Zelda's hair, prolonging the process. Zelda relaxed into the comforting touch of the Sheikah's rough hands. Kukiel had been assigned to Zelda since she was very young, years before Kukiel had become a Blooded Sheikah. There were other bodyguards watching in her youth, Zelda knew, but Kukiel was the only one that Zelda could see. Zelda was perhaps six when she saw Kukiel for the first time. Because of the four year age difference between the two, Kukiel became something of an older-sister figure to the princess, perhaps even a second mother. When Kukiel had saved Zelda from an assassination attempt when the princess was fifteen, Kukiel became the youngest member to be Blooded in centuries, as well as fully taking over Zelda's protection at the young age of nineteen. Zelda loved Kukiel like a sister.

Because of the influence of Ren and Kukiel, she had decided to join the Sheikah.

"What's happening to our clan, Kuki?" Zelda asked softly.

"Nothing good, princess," Kukiel responded in the same quiet volume, careful of listening ears. "The Shadow's been hurt bad. The clan members think that your Hero did it, and they won't accept any other option."

Zelda was silent for a few heartbeats. "How bad is Tempa injured?"

"It's bad. The shadow healers are working as hard as they can, but she won't seem to wake from her coma. There's . . . some sort of black residue on the wound and it won't disappear. I'm not sure if she's going to recover at all. If she stays in that coma for more than a month, the clan will be forced to start the Shadow Trials."

Kukiel exhaled slowly. "Speaking of Shadows, the Hero has descended down into the Spell-Woven Pit."

Zelda cursed under her breath. "Damn. I had hoped that it wouldn't have come to that."

"It did. I did as ordered. As you expected, the Sheikah were all too willing to persecute Link for the crime. Many people assume that Link did it. But the trial . . . it was too one-sided. Daime's playing something. All the evidence was stacked. It was far too quick for such an important trial."

Zelda bit her knuckle as she thought. "We've all known that Daime can't be trusted. He changed after the Twilight War. He wants to lead the Sheikah badly, and he'll do anything to get it. But it makes no sense to send Link into the Spell-Woven Pit. He'll just have one more Shadow to contend with. . ."

"I think that he wants to invoke the old laws," Kukiel said as she tied the end of Zelda's hair with a ribbon. "You know as well as I do that there can't be two Shadows in the clan at the same time."

Zelda's grey-blue eyes widened at the revelation. "He wants Link and Tempa to kill each other. Oh, Nayru, this is bad."

They hadn't been enforced for the longest of times, but there was a law written down that there could not be two clan heads at the same time. Once the previous clan head passed on from the world, all of the hopefuls went down into the Spell-Woven Pit one at a time, either dying or coming out as the new clan chief. It had never happened before, but the old laws of the Sheikah stated that there could not be two Shadows at the same time. The only way to settle the fight between two Shadows was a duel to the death. The law had never been changed because it never even came into thought.

Zelda's mind worked in over gear, and Kukiel was the unwilling audience to her musing. "Oh, Nayru. If Link doesn't come out of the pit, that's fine for Daime. Link's dead anyway. If he does come out, he'll be a new Shadow and he'll have to fight Tempa for clan chief when she wakes up. If Tempa doesn't wake up, then it'll be all too easy to get Link out of the leadership, because of his age and the fact that he was a criminal in their eyes. And if the two of them do fight, Link's sure to win, which means that he'll have to kill Tempa. And then Tempa's followers will kill Link for killing their clan chief because he doesn't have the required authority within their clan." Zelda placed a hand over her mouth. "No matter what, Daime wins and they're both dead.

"What I want to know is why . . . No matter what Daime does, there'll only be a new Shadow Trial, and there's no way that he would go into the Spell-Woven Pit . . . he's too much of a coward for that . . ."

Kukiel moved across the bed so that she was sitting next to the princess. "Perhaps there's something larger at work here, princess. Perhaps Daime wants them dead for another reason."

Zelda swung her long braid over her shoulder. "I don't know . . . What could Daime be after? As long as I've known him, he only wants to be clan chief, but doesn't have the spine to go into the Spell-Woven Pit to prove himself. I need to think about this . . ."

Kukiel nodded.

The princess glanced over at her bodyguard. "No matter what, I want you to leave for the Sheikah Tunnels. If I can, I'll try to come with you. Although I have little to no influence as Sheik, I can at least heal Tempa."

"You could always come as the princess. You'll have complete authority as such."

Zelda shook her head. "The royal family doesn't get involved with how the Sheikah runs itself. We give orders, but that's about as far as it goes. Our clan lives to serve the crown, but like I said, some Oaths go beyond even me."

Kukiel nodded.

The princess got up off of the bed before pulling out a large box from under the piece of furniture. She pulled off the lid carefully, revealing her unstrung light bow and a quiver filled with magic arrows. With her magical prowess, Zelda could summon light arrows at will, but it was always good to have a supply of them in case she didn't have time to summon them.

"We leave at sunset. I have to figure out what Daime's after. This makes no sense . . . why would he want Link dead?"

Kukiel had no answers for her.

* * *

The Sheikah Tunnels were a depressing place. Despite Ren's shadow magic, he had always thought that. It was far easier to get lost and die in the Tunnels then to actually reach the desired destination.

This deep in the Tunnels, so far away from the Cavern, the underground Sheikah village, there were no torches. Ren summoned his lantern out of the shadows and lit it, but it only provided a small halo of light around himself.

He moved through the Tunnels swiftly, allowing the shadows to guide his path.

There was no such thing as a map through the Sheikah Tunnels. The Tunnels were a sentient being, and they changed in order to protect secrecy. The Tunnels of yesterday were not the Tunnels that Ren currently walked through. Only members of the Sheikah could make their way through, with the help of their shadow magic, which led them wherever they wished to go.

It only took a few minutes for Ren to come across Ren, Nephenee and Impaz. The former two were arguing. Impaz held a lantern much similar to Ren's, but the light of the trio came from the glowing pink fairy that rested in Nephenee's hair, and apparently the source of their argument.

"You stuck Natl in a bottle, Nephi! What's wrong with you?"

"She was safer there while we were travelling! Besides, Link has said that he keeps fairies in bottles all the time!"

"Still, a bottle! And Link never keeps them for more than a day or two! Natl's been in there for three days!"

"Natl is not complaining! She is perfectly fine!"

"Natl can't talk, Nephi!"

Ren cleared his throat and both of the young warriors ceased talking and took stances. When they saw that it was him, Colin released his blade and Nephenee relaxed her guard. Ren waved to all of them. The floating pink fairy, who had been trying to stop the argument, settled down on Nephenee's hair once more, just behind her bangs.

"I've got it from here," Ren said, glancing back towards Impaz. "I'm sure that some Sheikah will be sent to the Hidden Village in a few days."

Impaz nodded and smiled sweetly before handing her lantern to Colin who took it gingerly. She turned to fade into the shadows of the rock wall, which was Impaz's cleverly disguised entrance into the Tunnels, but Ren's voice stopped her.

"Impaz," Ren said solemnly, "if they don't come within two days and the dark presence still lingers there, I don't care about anything else—You will get out of there."

Impaz's smile looked haunted in the lantern light. "But of course, my dear."

With that promise, the rock wall faded before Impaz, allowing her to leave the Tunnels once more.

Nephenee placed her hand on the place where Impaz had vanished, but she was met with nothing but stone. The Gerudo girl recoiled like she had been burned.

"Whether it be light magic or shadow magic, we Gerudo are wise to fear your actions."

Colin looked over at Ren. "Shadow magic?"

Ren nodded, placing his lantern carefully on his belt. The shadows coiled around his palm, illuminated by the light of the two flames. "We Sheikah are a tribe of shadow magic users. That's why I can sneak up on you two so easily."

"I thought that Colin and I were simply rusty, or not as good as we believed," Nephenee commented as she arranged the fairy in her hair, its light reflecting off of her violent red hair, giving her a fiery halo.

"No. I am a master of shadow magic. Many members of our clan can only blend into shadows, like Impaz can. Only masters like myself can store things in the shadows or force them to take tangible form."

"How many of these masters are there?" Nephenee said, her voice full of determination, not the fear that Ren had been expecting.

"All of the Blooded members of the Sheikah are masters of shadow magic. That's about thirty of them. When you receive the Tear, you also receive mastery over the shadows. There's only a few, like me, who can fully control shadows before they are Blooded. So maybe, thirty-five or so. The current Shadow, Tempa, our clan chief, is the most powerful shadow magic user in the tribe right now."

"You guys must be a terror," Colin whistled.

Ren shrugged as he led them through the Tunnels. "Not really. Shadow magic doesn't have many uses on the battlefield. It requires concentration and far too much energy to be useful." Ren paused. "However, while we're on the subject, never go in these Tunnels without me, and never leave my side while we're going through them."

"For what reason?" Nephenee asked cautiously, glancing around at the curved earthen walls.

"The Sheikah Tunnels are imbued with the magic of our clan. They move."

Nephenee flinched and moved away from the walls. "This labyrinth is a sentient being?"

Ren nodded. "Any member of the Sheikah can find their way through using the shadows to guide them. Anyone else, however, will be lost in the Tunnels and eventually die."

As they walked, Ren's light came upon a rotting skeleton, its bones being gnawed on by rats who hissed as the trio passed them. Colin placed his scarf across his nose and mouth at the smell of rotting flesh. Nephenee gagged. Ren just continued on.

"Like him. So you guys should really stick by me. We should reach the Cavern in little over a day."

"The Cavern?" Colin placed his scarf back across his neck as they walked past the skeleton and the smell it exuded.

"It's the underground Sheikah Village. If Link's been taken into the Tunnels, that's where he'll be. It's . . . It's hard to explain really, but it's a very beautiful place. Centuries ago, these Tunnels used to be used to mine rare glowing crystals, and we use them to make artificial daylight in the Cavern. It's a beautiful place." Ren paused, lost in his own memories. "Anyway, we should make good time. This place is pretty far from the Cavern, but it was the only place for us to enter the Tunnels without breaking my Oath."

"Would it have been faster to get to the Tunnels across land?" Nephenee asked.

"That's hard to say. The Tunnels change, as I've said. Mostly, the Tunnels are used by the Sheikah because they adjust to wherever you want to go. The only place that doesn't change is the location of the Cavern, because it's at the heart of the Tunnels and is too large to be shifted anyway."

For a while, they walked in silence, the light of the two lanterns and Natl, Nephenee's sleeping fairy, guiding the way. Colin and Nephenee murmured behind him, but Ren didn't pay much attention to their words. He was too locked in the consequences and intricacies of everything that had been going on.

He could only pray that Zelda would make it out.

* * *

"Again!"

A chorus of grunts and orders came from the training grounds of the Hylian Royal Army, just behind the castle. General Falnoff, his deep crimson cloak heavy on his shoulders, looked across at the soldiers and shook his head.

It was a sorry state of affairs in the army, to be sure. Many of the higher ranked officers were displeased and disgruntled by Falnoff's quick ascension to the top of the military's food chain, and resisted the new reforms that he tried to implicate.

_Which were only for the benefit of Hyrule, _Falnoff thought testily. _If we remain as we are, we have no hope of succeeding. _

He walked through the parade grounds with a high head and a watchful glance. He could show no weakness. Although Princess Zelda herself had given him his rank, that didn't mean that it couldn't be taken from him as easily as it had dropped into his hands. Falnoff was a good but ambitious man, and he didn't want to lose his rank only days after receiving it.

His promotion had been a silent affair. Falnoff was from a clan of lower nobles who had recently lost their wealth in the last hundred years or so—there was no recognition to his name. He did not have the money to host some grand affair. It was simple, and he took control of the army only an hour after he was promoted. Mainly, he had the soldiers working drills and trying to build up the disciple and strength and Falnoff knew was going to be needed.

The princess had taken him aside after his promotion and spoke in confidence about the coming war that had been spread in rumors across Castle Town. It was no simple piece of gossip, and Falnoff wasn't sure how much time they had left.

When the general did allow himself to rest, sleep didn't come easily. He couldn't help but worry about how many weeks—how many days—how many hours—they had before the Gerudo came upon them and ripped the land asunder.

"General!"

Falnoff turned at the call of his name. A young boy of around fifteen years of age, with too-big armor hanging off of his frame, was running towards him quickly, cutting through the swath of soldiers.

Falnoff put up a hand to stop the boy. "What's going on, soldier?"

"You need to come up to the watchtower with me, sir. We're not quite sure what to make of this."

General Falnoff didn't hesitate to follow at a brisk pace as the two headed up the winding stone staircases across the parade grounds. He didn't allow his thoughts to form as he followed. It was simply wishing for things that he didn't want to happen.

The watchtower, a domed structure at the top of the wall surrounding the training complex of the Hylian Royal Army, was nearly entirely open to the air and gave a complete view of the southern and eastern Hyrule Fields. The only other person inside the tower was a very disgruntled guard who griped his spear with white knuckles.

The general soon saw the reason for the anxiety. It was a simple dark shape on the horizon, coming from a region that shouldn't have been inhabited by anything other than the occasional monster, climbing around the rocks that ringed most of the plains of Hyrule.

But Falnoff knew that it wasn't a simple "it." It was an army.

General Falnoff turned to the other two soldiers in the watchtower.

"Someone get me Princess Zelda. We're under attack."


	25. Ch 24: Remained

**A/N: . . . I'm sorry about not updating yesterday. But in all fairness, I did warn you . . . Don't hate me? **

**Anyway, this is one of my ABSOLUTE favorite chapters. I just love it so much. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-Four: Remained_

Impa stood and looked Link up and down. "You look different from the way that I last saw you. Have you lost weight?"

Link paused. "I think that you have me confused for someone else."

Impa paused for the slightest of moments. "Nonsense. You're Link, aren't you? I can sense your presence."

"Well, yes, that's true . . . but I'm not the Hero you're thinking of. I assume you mean the Hero of Time?"

Impa looked a little confused and guarded. "Of course . . . you're not him, are you?" Impa said with realization dawning.

"In my time, I'm known as the Hero of Twilight. I'm the reincarnation of the Hero many centuries past. You know about how the times have changed, don't you?"

Impa looked up at the carvings that adorned the circular chamber. She had an odd look on her face. "Of course. It will silly of me to think that you could have had the Hero of Time's memories. It's just . . . I've been alone for a long time." Despite the mask that she wore, the mask that all of the Sheikah wore, Link could see through the cracks into the lonely woman that she still was. But there was a certain inner strength that she carried in spite of that.

Link released his hand from the Master Sword even though Impa was still toting her own large blade across her shoulders. "Why are you here?"

Impa moved her sword off of her shoulders and slammed it into the ground, leaning against the guard carefully. "Like all Sheikah, I'm doing my duty." Impa paused. "I assume that you've made contact with your past life? That's why I can sense his presence so strongly on you."

Link nodded.

"Before my time ended, I was known both as the Sage of Shadow and the First Shadow. As the clan chief of the Sheikah, I changed the clan for a better. In the past, we had been racked with poor leadership and bad choices. In order to combat such things, I set up a new system—known as the Judgment of the Spell-Woven Pit. I would pass judgment on those who wanted to become the clan chief. In this way, the Sheikah would never fall into such ruin again."

For a moment, all Link heard was the soft buzz of the magical particles around him.

"However, I don't think that you're here because you want to become a clan chief."

"No. I was tried and found guilty by the Sheikah. I came here as a last resort to spare my life."

"And you are not guilty?" Impa asked.

"No, I'm innocent. There was something off about the trial. As if they had already decided that I was going to die."

Impa paused. "There is a tradition in the Sheikah. It is known as 'guilty until proven innocent.' It was a custom back in the old days, when there were powerful enemies and we couldn't take the chance of someone walking free. Even after the wars, we never dropped that custom. It was a way of insuring that our clan would stay safe and free of spies. However . . ." Impa looked like she wanted to say something, but thought better of it.

"And if I actually am innocent?"

"Well, I'll be the judge of that." Impa pulled the carved blade over her shoulders once more, giving it a few practice swings before resting it across her shoulders. "I have answers for your questions. That is . . . if you can beat me."

Link's eyes widened. "A fight?"

"The Judgment of the Spell-Woven Pit is a unique trial. I will face you in whatever type of combat that you are most comfortable with. In your case, it would be swordplay. However, within these boundaries, your strength depends on your conviction, your strength of will. If you have a weak soul, Hero or not, you will not leave this pit alive. After our battle, I will decide if you are worthy of being a clan head."

"I don't want to be the clan head—according to the trial, that's Tempa's job. I just don't want to die. I'm still needed out in Hyrule."

Impa adjusted her feet into a strong stance. "If you only think like that, you'll never defeat me."

Link just had enough time to rip the Master Sword out of his sheath before it slammed down on his blade. Link buckled under the weight of the blade.

It was as if he was carrying a boulder on his arms as Link tightened his stance against the gridlock and felt the cold scraping of Impa's pitch black sword. How was she so strong?

"Here," Impa said, perfectly at ease despite Link's efforts, "I reign supreme. You pass this trial at my mercy. I was the most loyal clan chief that the Sheikah had ever seen. In order to be a Sheikah, you have to have the willingness to fight for Hyrule and all of the people within. Do you carry that conviction?"

Link gritted his teeth and pushed back against her blade with all the strength that he had. Impa, sensing danger, jumped back quickly. But while Link's breathing turned ragged, she was at ease.

Impa placed her blade across her tan shoulders once more. "In that aspect, at least, your convictions are strong—at least as strong as my own. That is the only way that you were able to throw off my blade." Impa's lips turned up in a smile. "But I can sense so much more than that. Have you heard the saying, Hero, that one can tell a person's heart through their blade? It was a popular phrase during the old wars with the Hero of Time. Back then, there was nothing but animosity between the four races of Hyrule. For one moment, we came together as a nation, in order to defeat the Demon King Ganondorf, but after that, the Gorons, the Zoro, the Sheikah and the Gerudo went their separate ways, with the Hylians standing on neutral grounds.

"Princess Zelda, my princess, tried to stop as much of the fighting as she could. Although she may be different in your time, my Zelda would do anything to ensure that there was peace. But despite her efforts, there was nothing but tense and unsafe relationships between the four races. Especially the Gerudo. After Ganondorf was defeated, the Gerudo had a closer relationship with the Hylians. Their clan grew exponentially over the next few years, adopting Hylian girls who had been orphaned in the wars. Unfortunately, the desert could not contain the size of their clan anymore. There wasn't enough water and the oasis was running dry. In desperation, they asked Hyrule if they could have part of Zora's River as a water source.

"Zelda wanted to, I could tell. But back in those days, the banner of Hyrule was nothing but a pretty name. It was that connecting force between the four tribes that didn't want to be connected. The royal family had little to no authority over the other races, unlike today where they all bend to the royal family's will. Even if Zelda wanted to give part of Zora's River to the Gerudo, she couldn't—because she didn't have the right to that land. To the Zora Tribe, the water of the river was sacred. That the Gerudo would even ask such a thing was blasphemous for them to do. Tensions only increased. After only three months without a steady source of water, the Gerudo did the only thing that they thought would be beneficial to their survival—they invaded Hyrule. The Zoras were backed by the Hylian royal family and the Sheikah, who were their bodyguards even then, in order to uphold the law. The Gorons, who always had a shaking relationship with the Zoras, decided to back the Gerudo. It was all out war between the four races."

Link regained his breath before he spoke. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, Hero, who do you think led Hyrule's armies against the Gerudo? It was the Hero of Time, who became the general. The Hero, who had friends in every single race, who respected all of the nations and their people. More than once, Link would act as more of an ambassador between the races than a general, simply because he had some many relationships in different places. How do you suppose he felt about going to war against the people that he cared about, the people that he loved?"

As a magical glowing particle came closer to his face, Link blew it out of his eyes silently. "That's intriguing, but does it have to do with the trial at all?"

Impa sighed and shook her head. "So impatient. The Hero of Time gave up his friendships and his commitments to the other nations so that they could stand at Hyrule's right hand. Being a Sheikah means not only do we have to protect Hyrule, but we also have to obey her. This is your trial. Do you have the conviction to release your pride and bow down to the loyalty of Hyrule?" Impa removed her blade from her shoulders and took a stance. "Answer incorrectly and I will kill you."

Link reached behind him for his shield, only to find his back free of all except for his wooden and leather sheath. He grimaced at the lack of protection. He wasn't a two handed swordsman and he always felt better protected when he had a shield.

"I don't know how to answer you, Impa," Link said carefully. "The Hyrule that I know is weak, much different from the one that you had known. How can I bend my will to a weak country?"

"Hyrule is eternal. Perhaps you have misinterpreted my trial."

Link didn't get a chance to answer her; in that moment, she lunged forward and snapped the colossal blade towards the Hero with shocking speed. Without doubting himself for a moment, he shoved the Master Sword between them and took a step back, locking his stance and determined to win their gridlock.

The sword can down with the blow of an avalanche. Link pushed back, but there was a sudden, unexpected kick from Impa to his side.

Goddess, that woman had strength. As Link jumped back from the locked swords, he placed his free hand against his side and confirmed that yes, Impa had just broken a couple of his ribs.

Why was he so weak? Link didn't analyze his fighting style as much as his opponents, but he _knew _that he wasn't supposed to be suffering this much at enemy hands.

Impa's mouth gave a twitch that was probably the Sheikah equivalent to a smile. "Here, strength depends on will. I told you that before. I am famed in the Sheikah because of my strong determination and prowess. It is the reason that I am proctor of the Judgment. You are wavering in this trial. Can you not be loyal to your own nation? The one that you swore to protect?"

"I never swore."

"It does not matter if _you_ did or not. You are the Hero. It unfortunately comes with the occupation."

Their blades connected once more.

* * *

_It was a simple chart planning room—one square table in the center, maps hung on the walls, a large chart spread across the table. A man leaned heavily against his palms on the table, sighing and having his deep red cape fall across his shoulders. _

_There was soft knocking from the corner of the room. A young woman, with bright yellow hair and a pretty diadem on her head, walked through the door. The man looked up from the charts and, upon seeing the woman, a twinkle entered his blue eyes. _

_He waved a hand to the woman, who walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, underneath his cape. _

"_There's no good news, is there?" The woman asked softly. _

"_No, nothing. I can't convince Nabooru to stop. She cares for her people too much to pull them back now." _

"_What will you do?" _

_The man pressed his lips to her temple. "I don't have a choice. I tried to avoid it, but there's no meaning to it. I have orders. I'll march with the Hylian and Zora armies the day after tomorrow. I didn't want to have to take the fray myself." _

_The woman sighed. "You know that you might see Nabooru if you go, you know." _

"_I know. There's no avoiding this, no matter how much I tried to avoid it. I will not run away from this battle." _

_The woman stepped away and placed one hand over his heart. "Come back. You promised me." _

_He brought his lips to hers carefully. "Of course, Zelda. I'll never break a promise."_

* * *

Link was brought of the memory forcefully and found that he was in a different position than he was when he had entered it. He had obviously kept fighting even through the memories actions. Link gritted his teeth as he stared at Impa forcefully.

"What was that?"

"Oh, you saw? Unsurprising, considering that you are the Hero. Our battle is made up of pure will. You happened to see one of the memories that I carry within my soul. Fight through them and make your decision while you see the hardships of the man who preceded you."

"Hyrule is weak in this time, Impa!"

"Then protect it! That is the ultimate goal of the Sheikah! Protection! Not running away from your fears!"

Link blocked a quick strike once more.

* * *

_A battlefield stretched before them. The man in the previous scene was on his knees, holding the head of a Zora woman who was bleeding profusely through the webbed fingers on her side. Her eyes were glassed over but she murmured words to the man who know held her. _

"_You have to stop them, Link. . . T-that river . . . It means everything to our people. . . W-w-we c-can't . . ." _

"_Ruto . . . I'm so sorry . . ." _

_The Zora woman slowly brought her hand up to the man's cheeks. "D-doesn't matter . . . A-alth-though, I n-never said g-goodbye. . . P-protect . . ." _

_Her hand fell away from his face. The man closed her unseeing eyes with a smooth gesture before letting the head drop from his arms. _

_Approaching footsteps behind him. The man turned around to see a young woman, with swords on her back and her hair loose around her. Bells were strung around her ankles and make light sounds as she moved. _

"_The bells . . . an old Gerudo custom of peace on the battlefield. I allow you to know where I am at all times in order to ensure that I come peacefully," the woman said softly. _

"_Nabooru . . . what are you doing here?" the man said coldly. _

"_I knew that Ruto was injured. It might sound false, but I had to see her." _

_The man closed his blue eyes tightly before opening them slowly once more. "There's no way to convince you to stop this, is there?" _

_The woman looked back at the Zora's dead body. _

"_Link, with how deep this has all gone, how could you even think that we could ever stop?"_

* * *

Link blocked another blow from Impa. He was reeling from the memory. He could feel the pain from the man, the suffering burden of being on opposite sides. That echoing feeling of loss that he had known for a long time.

Impa continued speaking. "You do not run from your fears, Hero. In the Sheikah there is no such thing as a deserter. You serve or you die. There is no way for you to disappear for years on end when you are within the Sheikah."

"Are you talking about how I ran from my village?" Link asked as he dodged her blade once more.

"You did not face your duties as a Hero! You may have meant to do you duty to Hyrule but you didn't. You ran from your fears in that village of hurting someone else. You never truly have controlled your instincts have you? You denied the princess's request of becoming a general because you were fearful of the leadership in your hands."

Impa battered Link's blade once more. "A Shadow—no, a Sheikah—can never falter the way that you have!"

* * *

"_You can't do this!" _

_Link closed his eyes tightly. "Unfortunately, I have to. You can't go back into the desert. Nabooru, it just doesn't work like that. That desert can't support your population anymore. The Sheikah have discovered a desert to the south-east of Hyrule's borders. As long as you promise not to return, the Zora will be placated for the invasion and the destruction of their entire royal family." _

_Nabooru grimaced. "Never to return from our exile? How cruel can you be? Some of the Gerudo have laid down roots in Hyrule!" _

"_Well, what did you think was going to happen when you invaded us? Just so you know, the Gorons aren't any better off than you. It will probably be decades before we establish trade with them again and they are forbidden from leaving Death Mountain without specific permission!" _

"_Well, why don't you just exile them too?!" Nabooru gestured wildly. "And for your information, when I decided to invaded Hyrule, I was trying to preserve what little life we had left. It wasn't easy from me to do! Do you think that I'm happy about Ruto? Or Darunia? Or all the others that died?" There were tears in her eyes now. "It was the option left for our people!" _

"_And this is the only option left for me and Zelda!" His voice softened. "Please, try to understand." _

_Nabooru didn't speak for the longest of times. She sighed and headed out of the door. ". . . I'll miss you, Link." _

_She slammed the door behind her. _

_Link dropped his face into his hands. _

_Nabooru had no idea how hard that was for him. _

" _. . . I'll miss you too."_

* * *

"You cannot run away from what is hard! You must protect Hyrule! Can you do that?" Impa swung furiously once more. "Do you have the right to anymore, after leaving it for three years? Because of what, because you were afraid?"

"Because I didn't have control!" Link burst out while he blocked another strike. "I lost control, Impa. I hurt someone close to me . . . and my transformation slowly slipped away from me! In that state, I couldn't protect anyone! I couldn't even protect myself!"

"Why did you ignore Zelda's first option of becoming her general, her protector?" Impa pushed after yet another strike. This one clipped Link's arm, drawing a thick line of blood.

"I was a vague figure of the war. Most people knew my face, not my deeds. I was a poor farmboy from a run-down village. How could I be a general?"

"You ran back to the life you once led before discovering you were a Hero," Impa said calmly, attempting to sweep Link's feet. "You did not show the loyalty required to make difficult choices and always fight for Hyrule. And you ran from that life once you realized that you were not the person that you once were."

"I know!" Link suddenly spat.

Impa kicked him straight in the stomach and Link feel on his back.

"Then you have to understand what kind of Hero we need."

* * *

_Zelda watched as the dead body of her once-husband was brought off of the battlefield, followed by nearly all of the soldiers in his command. _

_This wasn't supposed to happen. _

_After they announced the exile, there was a small rebellion within the Gerudo. Once that had headed straight for the castle. Link was supposed to subdue them quickly. He was supposed to help the Sheikah lead the Gerudo to their new home in the desert far from Hyrule. _

_Link wasn't supposed to die. _

_Zelda felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned slowly to see Nabooru standing next to her, looking grim. Like herself, Nabooru did not shed any tears. That was for when she was alone. _

"_Zelda, I . . . I was there when he died from the poisoned knife. . . I heard what he said as last words." _

_The princess looked up at the taller woman slowly. _

"_He said that I had to leave. That my people had to leave. It's for the best, Zelda. I'm sorry that I can't be here to help you, but I'll honor Link's last wish. My people and I will leave." _

_Zelda hiccupped. "Loyal to Hyrule and its interests to the end, wasn't he?" _

_Nabooru smiled sadly. "Yes, he was. He also said something about reforming trade with the Gorons . . . and that perhaps the Sheikah should move away from Kakariko Village since they're so close." _

_The princess laughed while tears found their way unbidden down her cheeks. "That's an old argument between the two of us. I guess . . . I won't win that one after all . . ." _

_Nabooru wrapped her arms around the princess's shoulders once more as she cried. When Zelda's tears dried, the Gerudo leader didn't pull away; instead she tugged Zelda closer and whispered into her ear. _

"_He also said that he loved you."_

* * *

Link pulled himself up off of the ground with strength that he wasn't completely sure that he possessed.

"Impa, I will only tell you this once." Why was his voice so much stronger now? "I am the Hero that Hyrule should have. Because I am the Hero. And I made mistakes by leaving Zelda, by leaving my village, by avoiding everything that I was.

"But I am the Hero, and I protected Hyrule once, and I will protect it again, for however long they need me! I may have avoided leadership, but I have never avoided that fact. I have always been the Hero!"

Their blades connected roughly, and for the first time, Impa didn't speak as Link fought against her attacks. She allowed him to speak freely.

"I didn't want leadership! I still don't want it! But don't you dare accuse me of not being the Hero that Hyrule deserves! Because I have done everything for this nation and will gladly do it again!"

Link brought the Master Sword down in a deadly arch and with strength that Link didn't know that he had, he knocked the sword out of Impa's hands. There was dead silence in the room as the huge black blade crumbled into dust as soon as it made contact with the rough floor.

For a moment, all was still as the tip of the Master Sword brushed against Impa's throat. Link was panting heavily; that sudden flurry of strength was gone from his body.

Impa smiled slightly as she placed a hand to Link's cheek and brushed across it slowly. It felt as though it was on fire, but Link didn't flinch away.

"I am granting this because I see what you are, Link." That was the first time that she had ever called him by name. "Because I can see more clearly than ever before. You may not like the spotlight, but remember that Sheikah always remain in the shadows. You will do well here."

Impa removed her fingers from Link's face. "Protection and loyalty. Never forget those. Maybe they had been lost now, but in my day, they were the motto of the Sheikah. You will need both of them in the days to come."

The light that had radiated around Impa ever since she had appeared to him seemed to dim slightly as she walked away. In fact, she looked nearly transparent.

"Outside the pit, there are three Sheikah waiting outside. I assume that they don't want you to make it out alive."

Link bowed towards Impa formally. "Thank you for everything, Impa."

"I only give it to you because I know all of what you are. During those lapses, you were not the only one experiencing memories."

Link looked to Impa in shock.

"If you ever see that little imp again, tell her thank you for saving my princess."

As Impa's body turned transparent and disappeared fully, Link gave a small, sad smile. He turned away from the pedestal that had once held a gigantic black sword, ignored the floating pieces of magic that surrounded the air.

He didn't ignore the last piece of advice that floated towards him on a nonexistent wind.

"Protection and loyalty."


	26. Ch 25: Battlefield: Castle Town

**A/N: I'm officially nine days late on my update. While that's horrible, I do have my reasons. And while they will sound like excuses to most of you, here's the short version: job, exams, sickness, food poisoning and mass amounts of essays. Yeah, I've had a rough week. **

**So I do hope that you all can forgive me. **

**By the way, this story was added to a community! That's never happened to me before!**

**It took us 16 chapters, but we're finally to the second battlefield! Strangely, it's easier for me to write Link's battles than it is for me to write Zelda's battles. **

**Also, please keep in mind that Zelda's not like Link or most of the other Sheikah-she doesn't fight excessively. She's a princess first, which means that she doesn't have a ton of battle experience. So while she's not weak, she's not super strong either.**

**WARNING: Gore. Lots and lots of gore. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-Five: Battlefield: Castle Town_

Ilia wrapped her hands in bandages. She had her single scimitar across her back. She wore the typical clothing of the Gerudo—a tight dark red cloth around her breasts, her stomach bare, baggy lavender pants tightened at her waist and ankles. Her short hair, which had grown longer over the few weeks she had been a member of the sister tribe, was tied back with a leather strap. Her tattoo shone proudly without covering on her shoulder.

Nabooru's Left sighed as she added the last piece of her ensemble: the shimmery cloth that she held in her hands, latched behind her ears which protected the lower half of her face from prying eyes.

If not for her lighter skin and hair, no one would recognize her as a Hylian.

Maybe she didn't want them to.

Behind her, Hina approached. It was only because of the snap of a twig that Ilia was even able to tell that she was there, since Ilia was so distracted. The young Ordon girl didn't have much of a battle sense either, although what weaponry skills that she did have had improved exponentially.

"We're waiting for orders, Left," Hina said softly.

Ever since Nabooru had turned—had been forced to turn by the jewel on her forehead—her followers had become Ilia's followers.

Ilia sighed. "Do what Ishizu and the king have ordered for now. There's no getting out of this battle. Try to avoid killing as many civilians as possible. Try to avoid contact with any of the Jeweled. We have to lay long for now. We can't risk losing any more of our sisters. If that means that we have to go through with this battle . . ." Ilia stopped speaking as she looked across the short distance until the walls of Castle Town, which they were marching towards softly. Surely they had been spotted by now.

Hina nodded. The girl bit her lip once. "Two more were turned yesterday."

The Jeweled were increasing their ranks. Of course they were. Ilia hadn't yet figured out how, but every single day one or two of her supporters would just disappear, only to come back the same way the Nabooru was—lifeless, cruel, a simple puppet for the king to use.

"Hina . . . we have to fight. There's no longer an option for us."

The young girl sighed once more. "There never was."

* * *

The messenger barreled into Zelda's private chambers without even pausing to knock. Normally, the princess would issue a reprimand for such blatant abuse of her privacy, but the look on the soldier's face stopped any chiding that she would have given. After busting through the door, weary and frantic, he glanced at the princess and had at least the sense to bow hastily.

"Urgent message from the General, Your Highness," the boy said in a hurried tone. "Castle Town is under attack."

Zelda's blood ran cold. "Estimate of their force," she demanded in a cold tone that she couldn't truly recognize as her own voice.

"Nearly six hundred, princess," the soldier said cautiously, "and we have reason to believe that there will be a second wave. The short number of Hylian knights will not be able to stop the attack."

"Estimate of our forces."

"We have a total of about five hundred troops in the base currently. Over half of those numbers are new recruits."

Zelda squeezed her eyes shut. She took a steading breath and gesture behind her to Kukiel. The Sheikah appeared at her shoulder.

"We no longer have the protection to keep the Castle. Castle Town, sadly, was not made to hold through siege. We will try to keep it as long as we can. However, I can't allow innocents to die. Take a hundred and fifty soldiers and remove all of the citizens from Castle Town and the surrounding area. Leave through the Western Gate. If there are any survivors, we will regroup at the base of the Bridge of Eldin." Zelda spoke in a calm voice and it hid the bile that was rising in her throat like a tide.

The messenger didn't move.

"What are you doing? Go, man! We don't have any time to wait! We must remove the citizens from Castle Town before the fighting begins!"

"Princess, there are nearly seven hundred residents of Castle Town—"

"Then we must move with even more haste!"

The messenger bowed quickly before somewhat awkwardly running out of the room. Zelda wasted no time as she bolted over to the window and glanced out of her tower. She had a good, if skewed, view of Castle Town. She could easily see the colorful waves of Gerudo warriors that were making their way across East Hyrule Field. They would be here soon.

She moved away from the window and looked back to Kukiel. The steel in her eyes had returned and if it wasn't for the fresh braid that was plaited down her back, Kukiel wouldn't have suspected that Zelda had ever been that vulnerable.

"Get the Sheikah currently stationed in Castle Town to remove all of the nobles from the castle and transfer them somewhere—probably back to their estates or to Faron Province. Anywhere but the Bridge of Eldin. I don't need their problems during this war. When the Sheikah are done with that, get them to help me hold off the borders while the citizens escape." Zelda glanced out of the window once more. "We're not going to win this fight, Kukiel. We have to abandon Hyrule Castle for the time being. I just want to make sure that the citizens get out alive."

"Do you have a plan for the future, Princess?" The Sheikah asked softly.

"I have millions of them," Zelda said softly. "I'm just unsure if any of them are going to work."

Kukiel straightened her back and her tone became more formal. "No matter what, Princess, I'm going to have to tell you to vacate the castle during this fight. We can't risk you getting injured."

Zelda nodded without restraint. "That's fine. I'm going to go into the Tunnels. I can warn the Sheikah of what has happened as well as find Link. The Cavern is close to Death Mountain and Kakariko Village anyway. We can warn them that the war has begun. Hopefully the Gorons can give us their support."

There was a loud crash that reverberated across the castle walls. Zelda flinched violently and raised her hand to her left shoulder, which was smarting painfully.

"That was black magic," she said as she winced. "They've breached the Eastern Gate."

Kukiel gripped Zelda's elbow to steady her. "Princess, we must leave."

"I know."

Zelda placed her Triforce over her heart and channeled her magic into her Triforce, ignoring the resonance with the black magic that had just been released and the subsequent pain in her shoulder. Zelda's physical appearance changed into her more comfortable Sheikah form, with its tight suit and the face coverings. As soon as the light died down and she was Sheik once more, Zelda rolled her shoulder and rubbed it with her palm.

"Are you alright?" Kukiel asked as she led the princess out of the room quickly, crouching down and walking through the doors of Zelda's chambers.

"It's just recoil from the magic. I have an extremely high sensitivity to black magic. The pain should fade in a few moments."

The bodyguard only nodded as they continued down into the main hall, lit by six circular chandeliers adorning with the same red and gold symbol that was popular across most of the famous dungeons in Hyrule.

In normal situations, Kukiel would have made sure that Zelda was fine, that she wasn't lying through the pain, but even the Sheikah knew that there was no time to be overly worried for each of Zelda's wounds. If she was going to go through the town as Sheik, the princess was certain to get more.

Kukiel's only consolation was to know that if Zelda went through the town as a princess, she would certainly die. She was safer like this.

There was a resounding crack as the main castle gates were battered against. Kukiel spun to look at the great oaken doors in shock.

"They've breached the outer wall! Come with me, princess!"

Zelda didn't argue as she was drug by the hand through the castle. She was aware now of the footsteps behind her, which only made her heart beat faster. Kukiel's grip on her hand only grew tighter, but Zelda didn't mind the grip.

Although it stung what little pride she had left after years of sucking up and playing docile to politicians, Zelda knew that she was out of her depth her.

The Sheikah had taught her how to fight, and she fought well. She knew light magic and the little shadow magic that she had learned from the Sheikah, and she was skilled with the bow that currently rested across her left hip. But this was a battle. And Zelda had never been in one of those before.

The siege of Zant didn't truly count. Zant fought fast and furiously, and before they ever recognized that the attack had started, it was over, with Zelda dropping the ceremonial sword that she had never actually used in battle.

For a moment, Zelda's mind flashed back to Link. Was this how he had felt, going through dungeons, facing monsters that were so much stronger than him, that outnumbered him one hundred to one? Zelda didn't understand that mention of unorthodox, unruled combat. The Sheikah were very structured in their battles—they had traditions, specific ways of fighting, rules for one-on-one combat. There was no limitation in a true battlefield of course.

But Zelda didn't have the experience to truly fight this battle.

The footsteps got louder behind them.

Realizing that their pace was being overtaken, Kukiel pulled Zelda in front of her and shoved the princess towards the concealed staircase that led down to the outer courtyards.

"I hold them off. You need to go and get to the entrance to the Sheikah Tunnels near the southern wall. Do not drop your disguise for anything!" Kukiel drew a knife out of her sleeve as she spoke, positioning her body so that she was a shield between their attackers and Zelda.

The princess opened her mouth for a moment—rather to agree or to argue, Zelda wasn't really sure—but she shut it again immediately. Zelda knew her place. If Kukiel said to run, Zelda would run. Kukiel was her bodyguard, her friend, and had far more battle experience than Zelda would ever acquire. As Kukiel stood in front of her charge, protecting her to the very last breath, Zelda wrapped her arms around Kukiel's waist, aching for the comfort for some strange reason.

Kukiel hesitated for a moment before giving her an awkward half-hug back.

"Don't die, Kuki. For me," Zelda whispered before she removed her arms from Kukiel's waist and drifted into the concealed staircase like a ghost. She glanced behind her twice, just to make sure that Kukiel was still strong, still standing tall.

Zelda didn't understand the aching within her.

* * *

Castle Town was a battleground.

Most of the civilians had been evacuated, but a few families unlucky enough to not hear about the news of the invasion ran through the streets with children wrapped in their arms, taking only the possessions that they could carry on their backs. A few of the houses were on fire; just to Zelda's left, three older man, obviously not soldiers, were trying to stop the fire from reaching the poor doctor's house. It was a futile attempt. Ash and blood hung in the air. All across the town battles raged—Gerudo versus Hylians, woman versus men, sisters versus soldiers. Already there were corpses littering the ground. Zelda tried to avoid looking at them.

She could harden her heart, but not that much.

She had already sent out the order to abandon the castle—she couldn't take it back now. Nearly all of the hundreds of citizens of Castle Town had made it out alive due to her orders, and now they wouldn't have to endure the days of siege that Castle Town wasn't equipped to deal with. But when Zelda saw the empty, ransacked houses, she couldn't help but feel utterly useless—why hadn't she, in all of the wisdom she was granted by the goddesses, known that this would have happened? Zelda had predicted the Gerudo, predicted Link's return, predicted the strife between herself and the council . . . where had all of her calculations gone wrong, leading to this horrible, stifling battle to the death?

Zelda jumped over another corpse, this one a young girl, her eyes blank and unseeing, bleeding red down onto the pavement. She couldn't tell if it was a Hylian or a Gerudo—that girl was probably five years younger than her.

Zelda tasted bile in her mouth by shoved it down quickly.

She had no time to be soft. She had to get away.

Not for the first time, she cursed that she had to abandon the Castle. The entrance to the Sheikah Tunnels was within Hyrule Castle, near the front gate. Of course, that was no longer an option. Which meant that the closest entrance would be on the edges of Castle Town. The only thing that was even remotely good about Zelda running through the shattered remains of her people was the fact that no one was following her.

Kukiel had made sure of that.

That was another thought that she had to push out of her mind.

But Zelda's mind was wild, going through the thoughts that she had to while she filtered through the things that she saw.

She needed a plan. She needed a plan.

Zelda was no warrior—she needed to be focused, concise, use her brain to get out of this situation because her strength just wasn't enough—flashes of red and ash and dust and steel—she had to concentrate on getting out of here—blank eyes, white on black on red on cold pavement—she had to get into the Tunnels or find a commanding officer soon; she had already given her orders to Kukiel and that messenger, but she trusted only her bodyguard and the general to get it done correctly—the twisted form of a leg, oh how old was that young boy, how much blood could he possibly have, that he was still alive while so much of it bleed onto the pavement—focus, Zelda, focus, you have a duty—a young woman taking a man's head by the scalp, a cruel grin flashing on her face as the blade slowly, slowly dragged across the skin, separating flesh and bone and skin and blood in an agonizingly slow motion—FOCUS, YOU HAVE TO FOCUS.

Zelda barely had enough time to twist out of the way of the blade that came down in a blinding arch towards her.

In typical Sheikah manner, Zelda immediately flipped out of the way, running through all the things that she had learned over the years from Ren on battle. Stay just outside of your opponent's range. If they had a longer weapon than you, close the distance to your advantage. Stay light on your feet, get ready to dodge. Understand that battles don't work one-on-one. In an open area, you're most likely outnumbered. Running is always a viable option unless you have something that you need to protect.

And although she knew all of the words, all the phrases, what Zelda needed was experience, and she was lacking in that. If she was away from the battle, up in a tower with just her and her bow, this would be simple. But she was on the ground, and having a realization—spars weren't like a battle, and she wouldn't walk out of losing alive.

She may have fought beside Link before, but here she was helplessly, utterly alone, without a stronger counterpart by her side.

It was terrifying.

Zelda was supposed to be behind the scenes, planning and plotting, moving her chess pieces. Her role was supposed to be the king while she led her soldiers. She wasn't supposed to have grand moments of action. She knew how to fight so that she wouldn't be helpless . . . but in this world of monsters among men, Zelda knew that she was helpless in a fight.

And it may have not been her role, but she damn well wasn't going to go down without fighting.

Twisting around immediately, she grabbed the short sword that she had horizontally across the small of her back—a gift from Ren on her eighteenth birthday—and twisted it into a backhand before staring down her attacker.

The Gerudo wasn't young, probably a few years older than Zelda herself. The tan skin seemed to glow in the dying sunlight, although with the red jewel on her forehead . . . no, Zelda corrected herself, that jewel was imbedded with magic and was glowing by itself. The woman held two of the curved scimitars that the desert people were famous for loosely in her hands and twirled them occasionally. Across her left arm was a deep black tattoo, twisting spirals that reached all the way down to her hand.

Zelda immediately started calculations. She wasn't an impulsive fighter—with her lack of physical strength, there was no way that she could be. Her opponent's range was longer, she would have to get in close. This woman had quite possibly come with backup, which meant that Zelda had to expect attacks from more than just her. And when the first opportunity announced itself, she needed to get out of there. Castle Town had already been abandoned. There was no need for her to risk her own life to stay and protect it.

However, as the woman lunged again and Zelda instinctively blocked, the princess realized that running away was easier said than done. This woman was skilled, she could tell. The Gerudo exuded the same power that Ren did when he got serious in a fight. Zelda couldn't turn her back.

As the fight continued, Zelda wished that she could say that she had fought on equal grounds with her opponent. But she didn't and she knew it. It took all her skill to stay alive, and she was only on the defensive. But while Zelda blocked and parried and lunged, she analyzed. There was no way that she could beat this woman in a fight, but there was no reason that she shouldn't have the ability to run away.

But something didn't add up.

Zelda was in her Sheikah disguise. There was no reason that she should be a target of the Gerudo, which meant that this woman shouldn't have been fighting her with such rugged intensity. Even if they did want her _because _she was a Sheikah, wouldn't they want her for information, at the very least? Which meant that the woman should probably have been talking to her.

And the blank look in the Gerudo's eyes was unsettling.

As they continued fighting, the woman's eyes never changed. They barely even moved away from Zelda's masked face. She didn't look around or scan her surroundings. Just black emptiness.

Zelda's short sword eventually got knocked out of her hand by an especially fierce blow from the scimitars. It clattered against the pavement. For a moment, Zelda had a flash of panic-

_Calm. Stay calm. _

-then she reminded herself that she was a Sheikah. She had been trained in unarmed combat. She knew what she was doing, her Sheikah uniform hid her metal gauntlets which would protect her from certain strikes that she wouldn't be able to dodge.

She would do this.

She would survive.

After all, Zelda was the princess, wasn't she?

But there was no denying that the fight went downhill from there. Zelda was more skilled with weaponry than unarmed combat, she knew. This was where her slight build and lack of muscle mass came back to bite her. She had little force behind her blows. She needed a weapon in order to tear through skin, since she couldn't break anything vital through her own force. As Zelda moved back and took up the slanted Sheikah stance that they used for hand-to-hand, she rustled her clothing and took inventory of any and all weapons that she left.

She had throwing daggers around her thighs and in her sleeves, but they wouldn't be durable enough to fight the scimitars and they weren't imbued with magic the way that her short sword was.

Her light bow was strapped across her back, but once again, unless she could get the distance to shoot a light arrow, there wasn't much hope in that.

If worst came to worst, Zelda could always use the strong reserves of light magic and decent reserves of shadow magic that she held as the holder of the Triforce of Wisdom and a Sheikah, but they weren't especially made for combat. And she was fatigued. If she did too much magic, she could risk fainting.

But no matter, it would have to make due.

While Zelda contemplated her situation, the Gerudo woman just stood their vigilantly, perfectly straight back, scimitars loose, eyes unseeing. It unsettled Zelda more than any lack of weaponry could.

Those were dead eyes. Blind eyes. Eyes like the ones that had shed blood tears from that girl's carcass on the ground . . .

Their fight continued.

It was a silent fight, despite the screaming and footsteps and crying and vicious sound of steel-on-steel from around them. Zelda was ever more outmatched now that she had lost her most powerful weapon. She needed and escape and she needed one soon.

But when Zelda looked for an escape route, she felt the cold feel of steel on her skin before she registered the pain.

The princess immediately flipped back, making sure that she was out of the Gerudo woman's range. A hand instinctively went to her side and she whimpered and bit her lip down from the pain. When Zelda pulled it away, it came back red.

Part of her brain was thinking—missed the lungs and slipped underneath the rib cage, possibly a fractured rib, blood loss the most prevalent injuries, not to serious as couldn't be healed by magic, should be fixed soon with healing—but the other was illogical, irrational, only understanding that there was

Pain and Blood and Ash and Darkness and Blood and Dead Eyes and Screaming and Child and Ripped and Red and Torn and Blade and Steel and Fire and Agony and Pain and PAIN

The logical part of her brain was telling her that she was having a panic attack.

Perhaps the woman had sensed her weakness, perhaps it was obvious, but she came closer and held her swords loosly—

_I'm going to die. _

-she approached slowly, leisurely, as if those blank, unseeing knew that Zelda wouldn't be quick enough to get away ever if she did try—

_I don't want to die. _

-and there was that feeling of steel against her skin; she knew that feeling. Ren's hand on the other side of a blade against her vitals, smiling in his odd way that wasn't actually smiling and saying "Dead" in a monotone.

She trusted Ren's steel. She didn't trust this woman's—

_I don't want to die. _

_But I'm going to anyway._

And then that feeling of steel was gone. Zelda looked up, through her slightly dizzy eyes to see that a girl dressed in Gerudo clothes was in front of her, holding in scimitar in one hand and Zelda's dropped short sword in the other. On her left arm was a circular tattoo filled with spiraling patterns—a Gerudo tattoo.

But the light color of the girl's hair obviously made her Hylian.

Zelda squashed her panic, panting. She would have control over her own mind at the very least. Perhaps thanks would be in order to the girl who saved her, but honestly, Zelda had neither the breath nor the desire to do so. She still wasn't sure which side this girl was on anyway.

The girl then spoke a phrase in broken Gerudo to the other woman. The blank-eyed one said nothing in return. With a sigh, the young girl flipped her language back to Hylian, which was clearly more comfortable for her.

"Nabooru! Snap out of it!"

Instead of calming down, the dead-eyed woman simply charged forward. The Hylian girl's eyes widened, as if she hadn't possibly thought that this would be the outcome of her interference. As she blocked the blades of her companion, the Hylian girl turned over her shoulder at Zelda.

"Boy, you've got to run!"

_Boy. _Of course. She was still in her Sheikah disguise. This girl was saving her without any clue who she actually was.

Zelda moved away slightly and tried to channel what little magic she had into fixing her wound in any way that she could. It wasn't a permanent or even wise choice, seeing how quickly it drained her energy, but Zelda needed to be able to move, especially if she was going to help her odd ally.

Because Zelda knew that in fighting skills, this girl was even worse off than she was.

Yet somehow, the little Hylian girl was holding her own.

Was Zelda that poor of a fighter?

Unlikely. Zelda couldn't reason it out as she focused on healing her side and making sure that her makeshift ally who wasn't really one didn't get killed. Then she felt the fluctuation and saw the Gerudo's eyes.

Every once in a while, every few blows, that dead-eyed gaze would lift, revealing eyes that were startling in both their intensity and their pain. The magic that surrounded the jewel on the girl's forehead shifted along with her eyes.

The Gerudo didn't want to harm the Hylian girl.

But that didn't mean that she was going to win her internal struggle.

Zelda didn't know why she was hesitating. She should go in there and help the girl who had saved her life, especially since that was the grounds for a Gerudo life debt. She should be the good man, the hero for once, and help that girl out.

But Zelda was a princess. And she couldn't risk her life any more than was necessary. Especially since she knew that the Gerudo girl would eventually lose her fight against the magic that bound her, which would most likely crush whatever spirit she had beneath the magical layer. And when that happened, the cold, heartless fighting machine that Zelda had fought with would likely return, with even more intensity and murderous intent.

And both of them would die when that happened.

And Kukiel didn't risk her life just so that Zelda would die.

Zelda just stood there contemplated whether to do what was right or what was just, when the Hylian girl looked back at her one more time and mouthed, softly,

"Go."

Zelda was a coward, and a weakling, and a fool, and a million other hurtful names that she could tell herself.

But she was no warrior.

She was a princess.

And that meant that she had to get out alive, and she wouldn't regret that decision, even if she had just thrown some girl's life away.

Because Zelda had to survive.

"I'm sorry," Zelda mouthed back as she turned away and ran.

Zelda didn't get to see the small, sad, graceful smile that graced the lips of the Hylian girl before the Gerudo knocked her out with the pummel of her scimitar.

Because Zelda ran.

* * *

Dark Link stood on the roof of an abandoned building on the edge of Castle Town, away from the main battle. He was waiting.

The Relic brought a hand up to the fiery gold chain that was burned around his neck and clutched it fiercely, wishing that he could rip it off of his neck, away from his skin.

Dark Link was always waiting.

But this time, he apparently didn't have to wait long.

It was only a few moments before a young Sheikah boy, probably fifteen years of age, came stumbling down the alleyway, a hand on his side and a small blood trail behind him. Perhaps Dark Link was seeing things, but was that boy's hand . . . glowing?

Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, there was no way that Dark Link would give any more information to his master than necessary.

The boy stopped on a patch of pavement close to the southern wall and dropped down to his knees roughly. Pulling his blood-stained hand away from the wound on his side, the boy drew a rough design on the cobblestones—a teardrop—in his own blood.

As silently as the shadowed clan itself, the pavestones suddenly parted, revealing a hole in the concrete, a black abyss barely large enough for a person to fit through. The Sheikah wasted no time as he descended into the tunnel. As soon as his blond, bandaged head was out of sight, the pavement shimmered shut, so subtly that Dark Link wasn't even sure that he had seen correctly.

Dark Link turned away from the pavement and scowled.

Whether he liked or not, he had news to report—and quickly too.

They now had access to the Sheikah Tunnels.


	27. Ch 26: Crimson

**A/N: Holy cow, the chapter's actually on time for once! **

**Anyway, a lot of people asked me when Link and Midna would meet up. Well . . . I'll give no hints. *cough* chapter 28 *cough* Did you hear something? **

**Warnings: Yeah, it's a Gerudo chapter. You know what's coming. **

**Disclaimer: Not mine. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom **

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-Six: Crimson _

Ilia woke to the smell of death.

Of course it was death. That seemed to be what followed everyone in the Gerudo who hadn't yet been turned by Ganondorf. Those who had—they had nothing. No emotion save cruelty and obedience, no senses, no recognition of what was going on around them. They were tools to be used and tossed away as soon as the king was done with them—as soon as the king found a different army.

Ilia had no doubt in her mind that he could find replacements for them, for all of them, as soon as he wished it.

Ilia had to force her eyes to open. She didn't want to. She didn't want to look around at the horror that she had caused. And by the smell of blood and steel, Ilia knew that she was still within her personal hell. She couldn't pretend that she was back home, fresh from the ranch fields, sleeping in a simple white shirt next to Fado while he wrapped his arms around her waist. That was only a fantasy that was no longer her life.

But it was a wonderful dream.

There was pressure on her left shoulder. That was what woke her so sharply. Ilia should have guessed. It was the shoulder that had been so recently and still stung from the corrosive material in the plant matter that made it stick to her skin. As her shoulder was shook again, pain shivered down her body.

She was lying on the cobblestones of Castle Town, covered in dirt and grime and blood that she wasn't quite sure was her own. It could have been anyone's.

It could have been from the soldier that she had to kill because he pulled a sword on her.

Or from the woman that Ilia had stood too close to when Ishizu had taken her head.

Or . . . the list wouldn't end.

Ilia looked to her left to see Hina leaning down over her, rubbing a wet cloth over her wounds. Ilia knew that her own injuries were miniscule. During the battle she had avoided violence. The hardest fight had been the one that she had fought with Nabooru in order to save that young boy, and it left no outward injuries other than a thick bump on her head.

"The king is looking for you," Hina said softly, as if worrying that loud noises would offend her.

Ilia nodded as she slowly sat up. "Where is the king?"

"He's still in his tent. The Marked are still inspecting the castle, making sure that all the traps are disabled; otherwise it's certain that the king would be there." Hina wrung the towel onto the pavement, and Ilia winced when she saw that the water was more red than pink. There had been too much blood for Ilia's liking.

Ilia looked around at the houses—some were burned, others were ransacked, a few were no more than ash—and at all of the corpses littering the streets. Very few were her sisters. Most of them were Hylian soldiers. Some were Hylian citizens who weren't able to get out fast enough.

Ilia vomited over onto the side of the road. After dry heaving a few times—when had been the last time that she had truly eaten?—Ilia wiped the back of her hand across her mouth. The taste of bile would be with her for a long time.

Hina didn't look away. Gerudo were made of stronger stuff. Hina dipped her rag into more of the bowl of water she had before wringing it once more and dabbing it on Ilia's face.

"Left," Hina said slowly, "what should we do now? I checked role a few hours ago . . . eight of our followers died in the raid. There's still around a hundred and fifty of us who are willing to follow you, but we're being outnumbered greatly . . . the Dark and the Marked are still loyal to the king while nearly half of our supporters have been turned. We're . . . dwindling."

Ilia steadied her breath. Why was Hina still there, still calling by her undeserved title when she was obviously so weak? When she had just thrown up while the girl, who was younger than her by years, simply stared at the carnage like it was an everyday practice? Why would anyone want to be led by little Ordon housewife whose most dangerous feat was getting kidnapped and losing her memory?

No matter what her reasons, Hina was still waiting for Ilia's answer.

Ilia cleared her throat and tried to steady her movements as she got to her feet. "I'm going to try to free Nabooru from the king's control. She's fighting, I could see it. It's the reason that I was only unconscious and not dead. Hopefully I can break through to her fully and then release the rest of the Jeweled. From there, it'll be Nabooru's call."

"And the rest of us?" Hina asked in a docile tone, picking up the basin of water and draping the now pink towel across her arm.

Ilia paused. " . . . Well, um, I suppose that you and the rest of the Gerudo should help clear the streets of Castle Town. If we do menial, normal chores instead of actively resisting, we'll probably prevent the number of Jeweled from increasing while I'm trying to free Nabooru. If they're Hylian, bury them in the earth—it's the typical ceremony in Hyrule. If any of the Marked or Dark asks, just say that you're giving them a dishonorable Gerudo burial. Make sure that all of our sisters are cremated."

Hinat gave Ilia a small smile, like the younger girl knew exactly how hard Ilia tried to carry the weight of the free supporters on her shoulders. Hina bowed and turned away, probably going to tell the rest of the sisters who were still loyal to Nabooru about the plan that the Left had made.

Ilia sat back down on the pavement and rubbed her hands over her bare stomach, which was cramped and painful from the dry heaving that she had done.

She brought a hand to her cheek and scratched at the dried blood that she found there. A few cries and screams still hung in the air, most likely from wounded citizens and soldiers who did not have the pleasure of an easy kill.

As she got up, Ilia picked up her scimitar, caked with blood and dirt, and slid it back into the holster on her back, the tip of the sheathed blade tapping against her hip. She stretched, making sure that nothing hurt. Other than sore muscles, she seemed to be fine.

Ilia was about to walk away, but something bright caught the corner of her eye. It was that short sword that she had taken from the Sheikah boy that she had saved. Maybe it was just the way that it looked in the early morning sun, but it seemed to be glowing.

It was probably her imagination.

But still, Ilia wrapped her hands around the blank grip and held it gingerly. It would most likely be for the best if she just left it there.

But, against her better judgment, she slipped the naked blade into her belt and walked away.

* * *

Nephenee wasn't used to this amount of silence.

Ren wasn't one for speaking, she knew, and Colin seemed to weary around the older Sheikah to make idle conversation. Colin was comfortable around her, she knew, but not so much around Ren. Nephenee couldn't blame him. She wasn't overly found of the Sheikah either.

Midna didn't speak. Nephenee liked to think that the Twili was still within Colin's shadow and stayed there while they were talking. But she had no way of knowing where the Twilight Princess was or even if she even stayed with them. Apparently Midna didn't trust them yet, or left them to their own devices during the boring bits of the journey.

Midna had a lot on her mind after all. Nephenee understood what it felt to lose her people. Trust came hard after that.

The tunnels were dark and cold. They rather reminded Nephenee of the desert during night time and that comforted her for a moment—until she remembered the monsters that would rise out of the sand, the Cursed Bobokins and the Stalhounds and Keese. Nephenee shivered slightly and almost put a hand to her blade before she realized that Ren might consider it threatening.

A warm hand wrapped around her own. Nephenee jumped, but only slightly—Ren didn't turn around. Nephenee looked over to see that the hand now clasping her own was attached to Colin, who was holding their second lantern in his other hand. Colin gave her a slight smile, indicating that he knew the general process of her thoughts, and to her extreme embarrassment, she was the one who blushed.

Nephenee could have sworn that she heard Midna's high pitched laughter.

"You okay?" Colin said softly, for no real reason. Nephenee knew that Ren could hear him and was tactfully pretending that he couldn't.

Nephenee nodded and put on a sly smile, one that might have scared lesser creature, but was diminished by the remnants of the blush on her cheeks. "Yeah. I am only thinking—old memories return in the darkness."

Colin nodded and almost reluctantly removed his hand from her tan one. Nephenee missed it. It was some of the very slight physical contact with other that she had had in the weeks that she had been away from the Gerudo. Nephenee by nature enjoyed physical contact with other people and used it frequently. But here in Hyrule she found that they were much more conservative in their efforts and always kept distance between each other. Trying not to breach that particular culture barrier, Nephenee hadn't truly touched a person out of battle for a long time.

Nephenee flexed her hand. It was unnaturally comfortable to have contact now, especially when she felt such solitude in the Tunnels. And she trusted Colin—perhaps she trusted him with things more important that just her life.

Ren turned back to them, his unmasked face sharply accented by the overlapping halos of light from the lanterns. "We'll be at the Cavern in a few hours. Just as a warning, I want you to be prepared for animosity from the other Sheikah—especially Daime."

"Why animosity?" Nephenee asked automatically. "And who is this Daime that you always mention? Is he working with undesirable parties?"

Ren scoffed, a rare show of emotion on his face. "Please. The only party that Daime works for is himself." Ren's face darkened suddenly. "Well, at least, that's how it used to be. Things changed for Daime a few years back." The shadow disappeared from his face as he continued speaking.

"In any case, you won't be receiving a warm welcome from the Sheikah. I haven't technically broken any laws by having Impaz show you the way into the Tunnels, but that's only a formality. I'm not Blooded and I'm not exactly trusted within the clan. I'll most likely get demoted and punished for bringing you to the Cavern and they will most likely try to throw you out."

"Wait, aren't you the princess's bodyguard?" Colin asked suddenly.

"No. That position belongs to Kukiel, who's actually a Blooded member of the Sheikah. I'm one of the princess's closest friends. I tend to take up all of the mission that she can't give to Kukiel, since Kukiel always has to remain near the princess. But that doesn't really matter within the clan. There was this issue two years ago . . . that's the main reason."

"Two years ago?"

Ren smiled over at Nephenee, but it was haunted in a way that made her regret asking. "Yeah. Two years ago, about a year after the war, there was this real controversial mission that the princess gave me. I'm not really allowed to tell you details, but it stepped on a lot of the Sheikah's toes. The short version is that Sheikah justice, especially internal affairs, was supposed to be handled within the clan, and Zelda decided to take the law into her own hands, with me as her executioner. It's the main reason that she can no longer interfere with most of the Sheikah affairs other than giving direct orders.

"Anyway, it ended up causing a rift in the clan. At the climax of the whole ordeal, I got challenged the old way. The traditional way. It was a typical Sheikah one-on-one death match. No tricks, no weapons. You're not even allowed to have armor. Daime was the one who challenged me. We fought. I won. But it was apparent after that that I wouldn't be getting much respect in the clan after that."

Ren shrugged his shoulders as he continued. "After the Twilight War, Daime was never really the same. He . . . changed. I mean, he was always a bit of an asshole, but he turned a lot darker. After I beat him in traditional combat, it just got worse. Since he couldn't make his way up through fighting, he moved into politics. He slandered my name and he resurrected laws that should never have been made in the first place. He's one of the main reasons that Zelda goes undercover into the Sheikah as a unBlooded member named Sheik—that's confidential, don't go telling anyone.

"Anyway, endgame is that Daime's in charge and I'm not really trusted within the clan. Tempa, the clan chief, tries to help me out and keep Daime in line, but I'm not in the Tunnels nearly enough to make any sort of impact."

There was silence for a long time, only the crunching of feet echoing in the Tunnels.

" . . . Ren?" Nephenee asked softly, as if she worried that speaking alone would be offensive.

"Hmm?"

"You never did tell us the actual reason for that controversial mission."

Perhaps the light had just dimmed, but the Tunnel suddenly seemed shades darker than it was before. Ren's fingers clenched the lantern enough that his bandaged knuckles turned white.

"I'm not proud of it." He closed his eyes for a moment. "I'm not. There . . . there was a leak inside the clan. It's how Zant got into the castle so easily without being spotted by most of the citizenry. One of the Sheikah turned over information to Zant. No way really understood why he did it. He really wasn't the type. After . . . everything . . . it was discovered that he was actually under the influence of some sort of undetermined sorcery. We still don't know exactly what happened to him. But he was being controlled and there was no easy way for us to get him out of it. He had to go."

To Nephenee, it seemed like Ren was defending his actions. But something was wrong. "I do not understand. There was a traitor in your midst and you took care of it. I do not see where all of the controversy comes from. You were simply doing your duty."

Ren sighed. "That's not exactly what happened. The most important part is the fact that it wasn't just some random member of the clan that I assassinated. And there was a reason that Daime was the one who challenged me to single combat."

Nephenee's foot caught on a human bone and it cracked beneath her foot with a sickening crunch.

"His name was Irin—the clan adviser and Daime's brother."

* * *

It was the middle of the night when Ilia was grabbed out of her bed.

Most of the Gerudo were still stationed outside of the walls of Castle Town, although there was talk of having them move their foundation inside of the walls, for better protection against a counterattack that was sure to come. All knew that the king would want to take the literal throne for himself.

The Gerudo who came and found her was one of the Marked, one of the ten who were left—two went on a secret mission in Ordon Village and never returned. Her name was Lin. She had never been Jeweled; as one of Ishizu's most trusted followers, there was never any need to force her to obey the king's will.

Lin grabbed her harshly by the arm and Ilia winced.

That injury hadn't been a pleasant one.

The days after Nabooru had been Jeweled, Ilia had tried to do what she could when Nabooru was sleeping. Back before she had been changed, Nabooru was the lightest sleeper that Ilia had known—waking at the slightest hint of battle, constantly on watch. But now she slept like the dead. Apparently it was the cost of being a lifeless slave during the waking hours.

Ilia had done everything that she could to try to break through the Jewel. She wasn't sure what sort of magic was protecting the gemstone, but it was strong. The last thing she had tried—and the one that had given her the injury—was trying to use her dagger to shatter the ruby colored glass. Instead, her dagger splintered on impact and part of it nicked her shoulder, pretty deep. She still wasn't recovered from it.

But her shoulder injury was the last thing on her mind as she was dragged through the Gerudo camp, watching as the moon just began to dust the corners of the sky a deep blue. In this light, Hyrule Castle looked eternal.

Rin shoved her into the large, ornate tent that was the only one that Ilia had never entered. The king's tent, always whispered in awe or fear by the other sisters. Recently, it had been more of a cause for fear than ever. The only people who came out the tent were those who had been Jeweled, whether or not they were when they had entered.

Was it finally Ilia's turn?

Despite her rapid thoughts, Ilia could still appreciate the beauty of the tent. The ground was layered with woven rugs in rich colors, and there was furniture and a four-poster bed with elegant wine-red curtains. There was a mirror hanging on one of the sides of the tent, showing Ilia her own gaunt and changed face. Her scar looked even worse than before, now that her skin was more tanned and a dark color, accenting the white outline of the puckered battle wound. Lanterns hung on colored threads gave the entire tent a golden glow.

It was a tent worthy of a king, Ilia mused.

"Nabooru's Left."

The phrase was spoken without any inflection, but it made Ilia's blood run cold.

Ilia turned slowly to see a tall, dark figure enter from the other side of the tent, from behind a dividing flap that separate one half of the tent from the other.

The man towered over her, perhaps by two feet or so. He had a slightly green tint to his skin, but it was still the dark olive color of the Gerudo. His red hair was curled tightly and pinned with gold. He wore dark clothes that were lined with white symbols that Ilia didn't understand. He moved over to a silver and gold throne-like chair, sitting in it elegantly and propping his chin up with his hand.

"All in all, a rather unimpressive title." The man's voice was deep and sinister and made shivers crawl slowly down Ilia's spine.

As the king moved, Ilia stayed glued to her spot. Practically every part of her body was screaming with fear, but she fought down the fight-or-flight instinct that raged insider her. But she wasn't strong. Ilia knew that in an instance she would run away from this tent and this strange man whose voice was like frozen blood. But Ilia had enough common sense to know that it wouldn't do her any good.

The king gave her a sly smile. It wasn't comforting.

"So you're the little Hylian girl whose been causing my troops so much trouble. So young. So . . . fragile."

Ilia had the odd sensation of fingers running down her cheek and tried to stem the bile rising in her throat. It wouldn't do any good to show excess weakness here.

"You ought to be more discrete. After I turned the little revolutionary leader to my side, I thought that I was done with this petty and useless 'civil war.' But no. I found that Nabooru left behind a successor. A little Hylian girl . . . the one thing that I can't touch."

The king got off of his throne and reached out to Ilia only to bring his hand back to his side. The sly smirk returned. "You see that magic, that pretty little magic that I've been using on the Gerudo, is an ancient force. However, it only affects my people." Ilia stiffened immediately, and it didn't escape the king's notice as he barked short laughter. "Yes. _My people_. They've always been mine, whether or not you realize it. We have a legend that has been lost to time. Every one hundred years, there's a man born into the Gerudo. That man is destined to be the king. In my age, I ruled them like I do here, but with much more obedience. Unfortunately, Gerudo blood has been diluted over the ages. There is no longer a single male birth. This people may bare the mark and the blood of the Gerudo that I once ruled, but they are no longer pure. They no longer bow to their one male king." The king's smile widened, revealing pointed teeth. "But they'll learn. Soon enough."

"H-haven't you d-done enough?" Ilia said, shocked out how steady her voice was. She was trembling in fear and she could feel it.

"Left, you've got the wrong idea. What makes you think that I've even begun?" He laughed shortly. "And you mistake me. I do not speak of my people as if I have affection for them. I have a means to an end. And I'll use anyone I can to do it. But I don't keep broken things," he whispered, his voice unnaturally close to Ilia as her blood ran cold and ice froze her in a place. His breath was almost in her ear. "What makes you think that I'll keep the Gerudo? These broken pieces won't be much use to me in the future.

"I'm expending far too much magic as it is, trying to keep them under control. How long will it be until I decide that it's not worth the energy to keep them under my control—or alive?" He sneered before moving away from her slightly.

"Y-you need an army."

"There's more than one fighting force in Hyrule, little girl, and Hyrule's not the only plane that I can steal from. You see, I'm getting bored," he said. Suddenly, the king waved an olive hand in the air and summoned a red jewel to his side, the size of one of Ordon's pumpkins. He held the perfectly round Jewel in his hands and ran a hand over the smooth surface. Ilia felt a shiver run down her back.

"I keep the Gerudo as a whim. You see this jewel? It's an ancient relic. My scouts found it a few weeks ago and it ironically led to their enslavement. This is the power source for the Puppet Crystals that are on all of those little disobedient sisters out in the clan. But, oh so easily, I could stop giving them the energy to keep them under control. That's a bit too tiring for me. But it would be so simple to just reach out and . . . take that energy instead."

Ilia's eyes widened. "Y-you're going to kill them all?" she whispered softly. "W-why are you telling me this?"

The king leaned in towards her. Unlike the rest of the Gerudo, he did not have eyes like molten gold. His eyes were fire red, blood red, a demon's eyes, burning with an unnatural fire that shouldn't have been there. Ilia could feel her arm freeze and her knees lock and her thought process stop short as soon as he got close to her.

"Why, little girl, I'm telling you this because I want you to _know. _I want you to realize what is happening when everyone you've grown close to over the past few weeks, everyone that you've led into disobeying me, grows old and dies at your feet. I want you to understand the pain that you'll feel when comrades die, not from the blow of an axe or a sword, but from the inside out, torn apart by the very magic that allowed me to keep them alive."

Ilia took in a hiccuping breath.

"I want you to _know_ why you're the last one standing, why you're the only one who I couldn't touch. I want you to understand that because you're _different_, because you could never belong here, you're the only one left alive, as the bodies of your sisters are spread around you. I want you to understand what the true feeling of loneliness and pain is. And then, maybe I'll grant you mercy and kill you. Because you didn't have the good grace to go and die with the others."

Ilia placed a hand over her mouth as tears made their way down her cheeks, frighteningly silent.

"You're a monster."

The king threw the jewel up into the air once before he caught it once more. He sent her a wicked grin that was reflected in the polished surface, distorting it even more.

"Of course I am. But just wait . . . just wait, little girl . . . until I get bored."

* * *

Ilia stumbled into her tent later that night, wiping the back of her hand against her mouth. Even after all the days of her being the Left, all the people that she had killed, the thought of death still left her with a turning stomach and the taste of bile in her mouth. She hadn't eaten much since the battle, and that meant that the only contents emptied was the sickly yellow of stomach acid.

The king must have had a cruel sense of humor, because he had assigned Ilia a tent with Nabooru. Maybe to keep her in line, maybe so that he could chuckle that short bark of a laugh while he watched how much she struggled with this imposter of a friend who no longer ever recognized that they were that.

Nabooru was sleeping like a rock, the same way that she always did since she was changed.

For hours on end, Ilia just watched Nabooru. It wasn't the Nabooru that she had known, the one who had been a revolutionary and a thinker, who had bright eyes and a quick fire wit. But this Nabooru was still alive. And if the king has his way, she wouldn't be that way for much longer.

Ilia was Nabooru's Left. Didn't that mean that she had some obligation the woman in front of her as well as being a surrogate leader of the clan while Nabooru was incompetent? Didn't she have some sort of duty that said that she should try to do everything to make sure that the Gerudo turned back into her normal self?

When she couldn't take it any longer, Ilia averted her gaze from Nabooru's sleeping face. Even that wasn't the same anymore.

As she turned away, Ilia suddenly caught the soft glowing of the dagger that she had taken from the young Sheikah boy. It was a dim light. While it had once shone so brightly within the borders of Castle Town, it dimmed the longer that she had, the longer that it was away from its source of power, which was most likely the Sheikah that she had taken it from. Ilia moved over slightly and grabbed the dagger.

Magic. Of course the blade was imbued with magic.

It took her a few moments to comprehend the idea, as her eyes flicked back over to Nabooru's face. But she was desperate.

Ilia would only get one shot at this, she knew. If it shattered the way that the other dagger had, there wouldn't be a second shot. But wasn't it worth it at least to try? If she didn't, there wouldn't be anything that she could do to prevent the king from his "boredom."

Ilia braced herself as she moved over to Nabooru softly, trying not to wake the other sisters who shared the four person tent with Ilia. She wrapped both of her hands around the dagger and moved Nabooru's head slightly. Even worse than failing would be missing and carving off important vitals of Nabooru's face.

As she brought the dagger to her lips, Ilia sent a prayer to the Golden Goddesses for luck and strength.

She would need copious amounts of both.

Reaching over her head, Ilia brought the dagger down in a powerful arch.

When the tip of the dagger touched the edge of the jewel it didn't shatter like the other one. It remained solid and Ilia forced herself to keep pressing down and keep the pressure constant. Her arms shook with the exertion.

Nothing could have prepared Ilia for the flash of magic that suddenly ignited between the jewel and the blade. Ilia's vision faded to white as light exploded from the blow, pushing Ilia back.

But Ilia could still hear that startling crack.

She immediately blacked out.


	28. Ch 27: A Single Moment

**A/N: I'm a pretty horrible person, and I know that. So try not to kill me, please? At least it's still May, right? *insert awkward smiley face* **

**Well, here you go - Chapter 27! Not much goes on in this chapter other than a few people dying, but it's essential to the plot. And please don't get mad at me. It's ridiculously hard for me to write Link, seeing as we don't see a lot of his character in the games since you're supposed to insert yourself into his shoes. **

**Anyway, a reviewer asked me a while back if I was going to put other Zelda games into my story. This is mainly an Ocarina of Time / Twilight Princess crossover, but the other games from the child timeline (Skyward Sword and Majora's Mask) will be referenced within my story. So, there's a pretty obvious crossover in this chapter, just to let you know. **

**The next chapter should be updated next Friday, since I'm working every other day that week. Friday, as in JUNE 7TH. **

**Warning: Death, Blood and References. I believe that last is the most deadly of three. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I also don't update my fanfiction for it on time. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-Seven: A Single Moment_

Link stalked out the Spell-Woven Pit with a hand on the Master Sword and the shield that had somehow returned to him. From what Link could guess, he physically carried everything into the pit; however, his will was only strong enough to anchor the Master Sword to him during the trial. Now that he had returned to the "physical plane," the items that had never actually left him had returned.

The moment after he had gotten out of the pit and watched the Tunnels suddenly close behind him, Link had pulled off the Hylian shield and used it as a rough mirror. What greeted him was his own battle-hardened and cold face—with one new addition.

The small blue Tear that identified him as a Shadow.

Link closed his eyes and sighed. When he had come to the Sheikah less than—well, he didn't actually know when, seeing as he was unconscious and in the mindscape with Shade for the most of it—he hadn't planned on doing anything other than finding the Sages and getting answers. He didn't plan on getting set on trial or having to go down into the Spell-Woven Pit.

He especially didn't expect to become the leader of a clan that he wasn't that fond of.

The Sheikah were good people, he knew, and necessary for the safety of Hyrule. In times of need, it was a good thing that they were there. Considering the upcoming war with the Gerudo, it was especially wise that they stuck around.

But there were laws that had to be obeyed and Link knew that sometimes, that he had to work outside of the law.

Link looked behind him and remembered the words that Impa had told him. Maybe . . . maybe he could do good by the Sheikah. They were experts in shadow magic after all, and they could help him control his transformations. He could straighten out the kinks in the clan, he could help them on the right path, carve them into a more elite fighting force . . .

Link shook his head.

That was all fine and well, but he had more important priorities at the moment, the largest of which was Ganondorf's return.

He could determine what to do with his newly discovered Sheikah rank later.

Although, from what Impa had said, it didn't look like he was going to be able to get rid of it in any case.

It was strange that he had no trouble finding his way through the Tunnels. Link was blind before, even when Kukiel held a lantern to guide the way. Now the Tunnels were clearer. They weren't bright or well-lit in any way, but Link could make out the definitions of the shape of the tunnel and the twists and turns in the road. And while he should have no idea where he is going, Link felt a tugging in the bottom of his gut that simply led him the direction that he needed to go.

He supposed that it was one of the perks of becoming a Shadow.

Link sensed the other Sheikah before they saw him.

While Link was not a master of stealth, preferring the more straightforward approach to battles, he knew how to blend into the darkness. But never before had he slipped into the shadows so easily, so completely. If he looked down, Link doubted that he would be able to see his hands.

Like him, these Sheikah did not carry lanterns or any source of light with them. They were guided by the shadows as well. While the three of them didn't carry an obvious show of weaponry, Link didn't doubt that there was some sort of blade tucked away on their person.

The trio of Sheikah kept walking towards him. Closer, just a little closer . . . suddenly, Link dug his elbow into the small of the closest man's back with enough force to break his spine. The scream didn't have time to echo on the walls before Link had wrapped an arm around both his mouth and his neck, silencing him in two different ways. The man fell to the ground quickly as Link dropped him unceremoniously.

Startled, the other two Sheikah turned swiftly. The two of them were trained, obviously, and by the dark Tears on their bare cheeks—apparently they had no need for masks within their own walls—they were trained well. While Link could have faded back into the shadows, he wasn't that kind of man, who slinked away from his enemies. He would face them head on, like he always had, and a fight with an ancient Sage and a new tattoo wouldn't change that.

Although Link was pretty sure that it changed everything else.

If one thing could be said about to Sheikah, it would be their silence. It was one thing that Link had admired about them. Even before his first transformation and the Twilight War, Link had always been a silent man, understanding that words were a luxury that he didn't always need. While his habit of silence had occasionally gotten on the nerves of the children of Ordon Village, later, when he had spent days upon days on end within a dungeon, with no one but Midna to talk to (and they weren't always on the best of terms then), he understood that understanding and appreciation of silence saved him from monsters finding him.

So Link understood the process as he watched the split second reaction of the Sheikah as anger and hurt from their comrade's death quickly cooled and solidified into determination and silent bloodlust. Excess noise simply makes you quicker prey. Link drew his Master Sword nearly inaudibly, the soft sound of metal against metal fading into the shadows.

None of them had light and there were no torches on the walls this close to the Spell-Woven Pit, but none of the men needed the illumination. The shadows were thin to members of the Sheikah clan, and by the soft gasp by one of Link's opponents, Link knew that they had seen his new Tear on the side of his cheek. But they didn't stay idle for long.

One of the Sheikah pulled a blade practically out of nowhere while the other faded into a battle stance just for a moment before launching himself forward. In an instant, Link whipped his Hylian shield off of his back and slammed it against the unarmed Sheikah's face while he clashed blade with the other. Forcing one Sheikah off the Master Sword, he quickly dropped the other and shoved his blade into his gut.

Ripping the Master Sword out of the corpse, Link swung his leg under the feet of the still-breathing enemy. Hearing the sickening crunch as bones snapped as they hit the rough earthen floor, Link suddenly twirled the ancient sacred blade into a backhand before shoving it into the Sheikah's heart.

As the man's lifeblood spilled onto the earthen floor, Link felt no need to rejoice in his victory. He had remained reasonably silent until now, and something told him that it would be best to remain anonymous for now, until his name was cleared. Link had a sinking suspicion that just because he had survived the trials didn't mean that he was going to leave the Tunnels free—at the very least, now that he was Teared, Link was certain that there were politics about this sort of thing, the very same politics that he had tried so hard to avoid.

_Protection and Loyalty. _

No. If nothing else, Link had learned something in the Spell-Woven Pit. He had a duty, not just to Hyrule as a whole, but to the individual people and races that dwelled within it. And that meant, that no matter how much he loathed it, he needed influence in politics and the people's lives. If it had to start in the Sheikah, so be it. Link _needed _politic influence. He was suddenly figuring out that this wasn't the type of battle that he could win on his own. He needed allies.

Link carefully scoured the area and with a stroke of luck came upon the packs that the Sheikah had been carrying with them.

But before allies, Link needed answers.

He pulled an extra Sheikah body suit and a black cape out of the pack. With a slight sense of melancholy, Link removed the Hero's Tunic and placed it carefully within the enchanted pouch that had returned to his side after his exploits in the pit. He shimmied into the Sheikah bodysuit, the crying red eye creased over the middle of his back. He hid that symbol with the black cape, tying it snugly across his throat and pulling the hood low over his eyes. A black scarf tied sharply across the lower half of his face covered half of his newly found tattoo.

In a way, he looked more Sheikah than he ever had before.

Link allowed the shadows to lead him as he slipped through the Tunnels, leaving the sight of the corpses behind him. While he wasn't exactly sure where he was going, the shadows wouldn't lead him wrong. He stopped when the tugging in his gut led him to a round stone door with no handles and reminiscent of the ones in Forest Temple, except with the crying red eye.

Link breathed in slowly. With one hand he gripped the hidden grip of the Master Sword. He pulled the glove off of the other and bit the thumb until it bleed. Carefully, with bated breath, he drug it down across the symbol.

For a terrible, horrible moment, nothing happened.

Then the symbol burned a blood red that Link had seen far too often in his young life and the round stone door faded away into nothing in front of him.

Half of Link had been expecting an ambush as soon as the door opened, so he was pleasantly surprised when there was no one waiting for him.

Sensing no one around him, Link stepped into the Cavern.

Link knew that his trial had been held in a different place that the rest of the Sheikah living quarters, but he honestly hadn't expected grass inside of the Cavern. But it was there, along with small flowers. Even a couple of trees grew. Which made no sense, considering that most of the Tunnels were dug in solid rock. Was it magic?

The Cavern was around as large as the entirety of Castle Town and as tall as Hyrule Castle. All around it there were Tunnels that led down below the city, which were made of low lying buildings with flat roofs. Clearly most of the living space was beneath the city and it was used to a much larger clan that the small tribe that lived in it currently. Link didn't see a building that was taller than two stories, even with the intense height of the Cavern. The greenery spread all across the Cavern, separated by paved roads of rough brick.

It didn't really look like the place where assassins lived.

But then Link had to duck behind one of the odd trees in order to hide from a young girl, probably twelve or thirteen, already dressed in the dark blues and blacks of the Sheikah.

He supposed that even assassins had families.

Link didn't have much of a sense of time, between the tales that Shade had told him within the mindscape and his trials down in the Spell-Woven Pit, and he couldn't orient himself with the constant, blue-tinted light that seemed to spread throughout the Cavern.

As Link made his way away from the trees and darting through building, he discovered that the source of the oddly colored light was the tall, vaguely hourglass-like structure that connected both the floor and ceiling of the Cavern. It was made of the same rough rock as the rest of the Tunnels, thin and wiry and looked entirely too stable for something so large, but it was inlaid in glowing patterns of gold and marble that reached up the large cage that was in the center of the structure.

Inside the cage was a large, incredibly large glowing blue stone adorned with a vaguely Sheikah reminiscent white symbol. It floated above a golden pedestal and rotated slightly. In all of his travels, Link had never seen anything of its like, and he had been across the entirety of Hyrule. As Link walked through the city's low houses, he saw bunches of the blue stone randomly along the streets and in the grass, glowing just as the large one in the center of the Cavern did. There were also pockets of blue along the walls of the Cavern.

All of the buildings were low, Link supposed, so that no one could come close to the light source for the Cavern, which was housed in the only tall structure in the entirety of the air-bubble within the earth.

However, with the constant blue-tinted light and the flaming lanterns along the outer walls of the homes, it made it both harder and easier for Link to move throughout the Cavern. Easier because there were deeper shadows to slip into. Harder because there was more light to avoid.

Link didn't know what he was looking for, but he simply followed the tugging of the shadows. They led him through the mostly deserted streets. Although he saw that some people were asleep in the houses, Link guessed that most of the clan was in the Tunnels and the lower levels of the Cavern. It must be nighttime outside, Link assumed.

His gut feeling led him to a building right next to the glowing hourglass structure. It was the first house before a large circular town square that circled around the base of the large rock and was embossed with the same marble and gold symbols. The blue light was strongest there.

Link was cautious as he opened the door and made his way through the empty first floor of the house. There was a table and chairs which were skewed haphazardly and a single lit candle on top of it.

Someone had been there—recently.

The house didn't have a second floor, but seemed to descend into the earth indefinitely. The blackness didn't bother him and his night vision seemed to have increased exponentially since his journey down into the Pit, but he still felt apprehension about entering. Link was in enemy territory after all, and nearly all of the Sheikah clan was there for their annual meeting or something along those lines.

But he needed answers and he had a job to do. So he shouldered his courage and kept a hand on the Master Sword as he entered down the stairs.

It was surprisingly empty. All of the torches were lit and gave a warm glow to the hallways. Turning into the first room, he was met with storage. The next, an armory. The third contained a bed that looked as if it had been slept in recently and an overturned ink pot that dripped down onto the floor.

But there were no people and no guards.

The last room, the one that the shadows were leading him towards, Link opened with caution.

This room had torches lit in every corner of the room and was taken up mostly by a large bed with pure white sheets. A few chairs and a side table littered with gleaming metal instruments were the only other furniture. The whole room stank with magic.

Link crinkled his nose. If there was one thing that he wasn't very fond of, it was magic. He supposed that it made him a hypocrite, now that he had his limited and obligatory control over the shadows, but he couldn't stand magic. He was no magician himself, and while he admired those who had the ability to use the magical arts, like Midna and Princess Zelda, it had been used against him far too much to be fond of the seemingly endless abilities of magic.

Link moved towards the bed. It didn't take him long to recognize the woman that he had saved back in the Hidden Village. Her blue Tear shone brightly in the firelight, and Link instinctively reached up to the tattoo that he knew matched hers.

He hadn't been able to see it clearly before, but she was older than he had thought when he had met her in the Hidden Village. Probably forty or fifty years of age. She was small and had a lithe, young look to her, but there was no use in hiding the gray roots in her hair or the wrinkles across her forehead.

Link was reminded of Impaz for a moment and prayed that she hadn't been harmed.

Turning back to woman, Link laid a soft hand against her forehead.

Fever. At the trial they mentioned that the current clan leader—Tempa?—had been hit with a magical wound. It had probably gotten infected. But where were the healers? The people who should be watching over her?

Another thought—why was someone as important as the clan leader here, in a barely defensible home with old walls and not enough decent medical equipment?

Link rummaged around in his pouch for a moment.

If anyone had the answers that he sought, it was her.

Link pulled out a fairy in a bottle. He popped open the cork and guided the fairy with his hand to the unconscious form of Tempa, watching at it swirled around her body, leaving soft pink dust behind. Once it had reached her feet and floated over her wound once more, the fairy disappeared in a shower of pink sparkles, probably to return to one of the springs.

Link waited for a few moments. Suddenly, the woman's eyes began to open, a clear, soft green a bit hazed by the medicine and magic that she must have been given.

"Hello, Tempa." Link pulled down his face mask, revealing the full blue Tear on his cheek. "I think we've got a lot to talk about."

Tempa rose onto her elbows slowly and winced before dropping back down to the bed.

Link placed a hand on her shoulder and eased her back down onto the bed. "Don't get up. You've been through a lot. I can't tell you how long you've been here, but fairy healing isn't complete. You've still got some major internal injuries."

The clan head's voice was weak as she spoke. "Well, if you're the one who healed me, then I thank you. You were the green-clad man who saved me in the Hidden Village, weren't you?"

Link nodded once.

"I'm sure that you have questions for me. As for that shade, I don't know how he got there. Impaz—I'm sure that you've met her—she called the clan about a possible Twili sighting. Obviously, if it had anything to do with the war, we were there in a heartbeat. We didn't expect a pure black swordsman who caught us off guard. I fought him for nearly a half an hour before you found me there, with a wound on my side and dead comrades." Tempa paused for a long minute as she tried to catch her shallow breath.

Link sat down on one the chairs that he pulled up to her bedside.

Tempa glanced up at him. "I recognize you from the princess's reports. You're the Hero of Twilight, aren't you?"

"I have been called that."

"And while that may be so, that doesn't explain while you're here in stolen Sheikah clothing, with a freshly adorned Tear of the Shadow. Mind explaining this to me?"

"It's a bit of a long story."

She fixed him with a piercing glare, although it was slightly diminished by how washed out her face was. "Oh, trust me, Hero of Twilight, I have time."

* * *

Tempa was unusually still after Link had finished his story of the Sheikah Tunnels. He left out most of the important things, like the fact that Ganondorf had returned and that a Gerudo girl had been travelling with him. He also didn't mention anything about his involvement in the Twilight War. It was better to be safe than sorry.

Tempa raised a withered hand to her wrinkled face. "So Daime is causing trouble again. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that, Hero."

"That doesn't matter now. Although this may be difficult for you to understand for an outsider, I do have a duty to Hyrule. And now I've suddenly been granted the influence to make a difference. After this war has been solved, I will come back to the clan."

Tempa glanced at him with the smallest of smiles. "So you did learn something down in the Pit, didn't you?"

Link only shrugged, the candlelight obscuring his features. "But my allegiance or lack thereof is not nearly as important right now. Something's wrong here. You're the clan chief. I may not know of all the customs, but I know that you shouldn't be healing in some broken down home near the middle of the Cavern."

"Actually, it is intentional. This home is the closest to the Time-Shift Stone. Those who are closer to the stone tend to heal quicker. But I shouldn't be unguarded. That in itself is strange."

"Are you certain that I shouldn't move you further underground?"

Tempa shook her head weakly. "No. The Time-Shift Stone is helping me. It's slowly healing me back to the way that I was before the attack. If you move me underground, that will be for naught."

Link nodded. "Then I'll stay here, until your guards return."

For a few moments, they sat there in comfortable silence, as Link watched Tempa and Tempa watched Link.

"You'll make a good Shadow," Tempa said suddenly.

Link only blinked.

"Perhaps it's good that you were chosen at this time. Even though I have awoken, I'm not sure how much longer I will live."

"Don't say that," Link said softly. "I know very little about being a Sheikah. And with this war still going on, I need freedom of motion. I cannot be bound to one group. I must help all of Hyrule."

Tempa's dark eyes were unreadable. "Perhaps you may not yet understand, but the Sheikah, in our way, do help all of Hyrule."

Link was about to retort when the door slammed open. Link immediately got to his feet and whipped the Master Sword out of its sheath, standing between the unknown advisory and Tempa instinctively. Behind him, he noticed that Tempa had gripped a dagger above her covers, the blade glittering in the candlelight. Despite the grimace on her face and the sweat beading on her forehead, Tempa was already halfway off the bed, ready for any attack.

To Link's surprise, it was Daime that was standing in the doorway, his mask off, a long dagger in his hands. When he recognized Link, he didn't relax his guard; instead, he tightened it, his knuckles turning white on the grip of the dagger.

"Tempa," he said through clenched teeth. "It's nice to see you awake."

"Yes, it seems that it's been a difficult time in the clan without me, Daime," Tempa said shortly. "I have heard that you have sent the Hero of Twilight down into the Spell-Woven Pit."

The fire in Daime's eyes brightened and his jaw clenched further. "There was overwhelming evidence in his guilt. I apologize for the inconvenience. If anything, I was merely distraught over your weakened state."

"Stop lying through your teeth, Daime," Tempa said with a fierce look on her thin face. "Everyone in this room knows of the deception that you've been playing at. There's no need to put on your political façade here."

"Oh, whatever do you mean?"

Link snarled at that comment. Bringing attention to himself, Daime's eyes swept over him, but stayed steady on the blue Tear on his cheek.

"So you survived."

"Why the tone of surprise, Daime?" Link snarled. He had been under the impression that the Sheikah were a silent clan that kept to the shadows. They shouldn't have had a need for these elaborate mind games.

"Simply statistics, Hero, simply statistics." Link didn't like the smug look in Daime's eyes. It seemed as though he had pleased Daime by surviving the Pit.

Daime suddenly glanced over at Tempa. "I'm sorry about the lack of guards. Apparently there was a shift change within the UnBlooded that didn't work as well as it should have. I'll be certain to change that. It's good to know that you're awake once more." The look in Daime's blood-red eyes was distanced, unfocused, as if he wasn't truly thinking about what he was saying. "Yes, it's truly excellent that you're awake."

There was long pause in which none of them relaxed their guard of their weapons until Daime shrugged and placed his dagger back into the horizontally slanted sheath on the small of his back. Link didn't moved the Master Sword from its place within his stance and Tempa remained still as she clenched her small dagger.

"Daime . . ." Tempa began, with a weary look in her eyes.

"Anyway, I have to get back to the Meeting of the Teared," Daime glanced over at Link. "Apparently, I have a new Shadow to announce, and as you know, Tempa, that means that we have _much_ to discuss."

"Daime," Tempa warned again but the other Sheikah just kept speaking, her grip on the dagger getting tighter and tighter as he spoke.

"Because Tempa, as you know, the old laws simply _can't _wait."

Link was sure that if Tempa wasn't already pale from her injuries, she would have lost all of the blood in her face.

With a quick turn on his heel, Daime strode out of the room, leaving the door open to the air. His short entrance and sudden exit left the air in the room heavy with tension. Tempa shuddered for a moment before leaning back against her pillows once more.

"I am truly upset that you must be involved with this, Hero. But there are laws about having two Shadows in the clan at the same time. And none of them end without copious amounts of death. If I don't make it through my injuries, that's one thing, but as soon as I'm able to walk again, there are laws. Most of them involve Sheikah duels."

"What should I do? I would rather not take on the leadership of the clan," Link said as he sheathed the Master Sword.

"Nothing for now. I have to think on this. But you shouldn't waste time here. You mentioned that you had to find the Sages, correct?"

Link nodded once.

"They're in the Tunnels beneath Zora's Domain, close to Snowpeak. It's one of our most protected bunkers. For now, head there and get your answers. But you have to come back to the clan. There's no choice for you anymore. That Tear is more than a tattoo, it's an obligation. You'll have to come back. If not, the shadow magic will force you to."

Link closed his eyes and breathed in slowly. "I understand. I suppose that that's why Impa gave me the tattoo. Because I have always felt like I have an obligation to all of the people of Hyrule."

Tempa smiled softly and reached an unsteady head to brush her fingers over the Tear. For a moment, Link was reminded of Uli, the only mother that he had ever known.

"Be careful of this clan. We've changed since the Twilight War. Hopefully, with your help, we can find a way to return to the way that we once were."

Link removed her hand and placed it back to her side. "We have to survive this first, Tempa. I've sure that you've heard of the war. Before anything else, including Daime's meddling, I have to end it. Which means that I must leave."

Tempa's grip suddenly became a death grip on Link's wrist. Her eyes were hard, yet kind. "I have been the clan leader of the Sheikah for nearly thirty years. Daime is young, but he has been a pain in my side for the past decade. Don't underestimate him. He doesn't fight fair and I'm not longer even sure which side he's playing for. This is the first time I have ever had to share authority with anyone other than the princess. And I will warn you once, Hero. You are a Shadow now. You are a leader. So _lead. _When you come back from your mission, not all Sheikah will welcome you with open arms. But they are now _your _Sheikah. Remember that."

As she spoke, Tempa's grip had become weaker, more signs of her fatigue. Link smiled sadly and placed a hand on her forehead, only to be greeted by the heat of a fever.

"Rest, Tempa. If for nothing else, I'll come back to save you."

* * *

Link was walking through the Cavern once more, with its abandoned buildings and eerie blue light, when Shade appeared to him. This time, Link didn't feel as if he was looking into a mirror. Dressed in the traditional Sheikah clothes he had stolen in order to sneak in, it was a stark contrast between the Hero's Tunic that Shade wore.

Shade was leaning against a boarded-up home, arms crossed over his chest. When Link approached, the ancient Hero straightened.

"I've come with a warning."

Link stopped in his tracks and removed the black hood from his hair.

"Daime," Shade said shortly. "You may think that he's a nuisance, but there's a lot more going on here than that. I can't tell you what exactly, but be wary of him. Especially around Tempa."

"I've already been warned of his plots," Link said carefully.

"It's not that. Darkness clings to him, and it's not the shadow magic of this clan. I knew them long enough in my own timeline to understand what that is."

Link's eyes narrowed.

Shade shrugged. "Like you, I was no magician in life. I did not understand magic. As a remnant of the past, I now understand more of the magical aspects. There is something very wrong with him. But I give you this one warning—the scent of Twilight clings to him."

"Twilight?"

Link's mind immediately went back to Midna, and from that, the Mirror of Twilight. It had been shattered in thousands of pieces. There was no way to fix that.

Shade glanced at Link sharply, his blue eyes electric.

"There's more than one way to bridge worlds."

Shade faded into the shadows, as if he had never been there to begin with.


	29. Ch 28: The Six Sages

**A/N: *sing-song voice* I'm baaaaaack! *dodges rotten fruit and small appliances***

**Okay, I'm really, really sorry. My only excuse is work. I have severely underestimated how little free time that I have with my summer job. But in return, take this lovely, beautiful thing: the longest chapter that I have written to date. Over 7,000 words! How's that for a comeback? **

**Very soon, I'm going to be gone for two weeks, and I wanted to post this before I disappeared again. However, while I've decided to give up on giving you exact dates on my updates, my next chapter should be out early August at the latest. If it hits, like, August 10th and I haven't updated, you have all rights to throw fruit at me. I won't even dodge it this time. **

**On other notes, I love this chapter! I love all of the recent chapters actually. But this one especially. **

**Warnings: Mass amounts of dialogue. And constant ridiculous amounts of Ocarina of Time for a Twilight Princess fic. But I'm breaking the mold!**

**Disclaimer: Um . . . yeah, you know the drill. **

**Read, Review and Enjoy!**

**~Shard of Freedom**

* * *

_Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign_

_Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Six Sages_

Link walked through the Tunnels carefully. Shade's warning had made him even more cautious than before—he remembered that ambush for him after he left the Spell-Woven Pit.

There were voices ahead.

Link stilled and silently shifted so that his back was along the edge of the round tunnel, one hand on the Master Sword. They could be normal Sheikah, or they could not. Considering everything that had been going on for the past few days, anything was possible.

The presences suddenly stilled. The voices stopped. Had they sensed him? Two remained where they were while a third ventured forward. Link slowly slid the Master Sword out of its sheath.

When he sensed the figure close to him, Link suddenly lashed out, only to have the Master Sword be caught on another blade in a gridlock. For a moment, he was shocked, then he pushed forward against his newly found opponent.

Both of them jumped back, scratching the dirt of the tunnel with their boots, readying their guards once more.

Another figure suddenly darted around the corner, holding up a glowing lantern. Link flinched at the sudden darkness, his eyes unaccustomed to the brightness.

"Link?" a female voice asked softly.

Link blinked furiously. When his eyesight returned, he saw Nephenee holding up a lantern, sending ghostly shadows over her face. Behind her, Colin stood holding another lantern and an already drawn sword, his stance prepared despite having the weight of the lantern on his arm. Link gave a small smile at the sight of his apprentice once more.

As he glanced at his momentary opponent, he realized that it was actually that Sheikah that he had met in Castle Town . . . Ren, maybe? Link had never been good with names, but he supposed that he should remember the one who had tried to kill him more than once.

"Nephenee, Colin, why are you here?"

Nephenee shook her head, causing the slumbering fairy in her hair to be shaken awake and flutter incessantly, adding its own soft light. "You said before you left that you wanted us to go after you after two days. Ren gave us unexpected help, but we were following your orders."

" . . . How long has it been since I left you?"

"Nearly a week and a half," Ren supplied automatically, the dagger that he had once held disappearing. In the new light, Link saw that Ren was now without his head mask, baring his sharp features to the world. As the two examined each other in the new light, Ren added on "sir" to his previous statement.

Link brought his hand up to the new tattoo that he knew was there.

Ren watched him with cold and grudgingly respectful eyes. "It seems that we have much to share, sir. We were not idle either."

Colin looked between the two of them carefully. "Ren? Why do you keep calling Link sir?"

"Link?" a soft melodious voice echoed through the caves. The trio paused and Link's eyes widened, recognizing the high-pitched voice that was always prone to laughter when they were together.

Link stepped forward.

Spiraling out of Colin's shadow, the small imp materialized in all of her green-and-black Twili majesty. She retained her small form and the Fused Shadow across one of her orange eyes. She looked so much like she had before they had partnered, the same small figure that would rise on her back in wolf form. For a moment, Link's voice betrayed him and he couldn't force out a sound.

Midna floated towards him and placed a hand on his cheek, the same way that she did in Gerudo Desert, after she had revealed the history of her people to Link, leaving her soul bared. Her eyes were soft and sharp, brushing her short fingers against his new Tear.

"You've changed," she said calmly.

"You haven't," Link responded softly.

Midna gave a cracked smile, the one that she always used when they were losing a battle and she was about to give him advice. "I missed you, Link. I fear that we have a lot of catching up to do."

Link glanced behind her to his three companions, who were watching the scene with a measure of distance, not wanting to intrude.

"Yes, we certainly do."

* * *

When Midna finished her tale, Link's eyes were wide and he had a hand on his chin.

"Dark Link must have crossed the worlds directly after he came in contact with me if he took over your kingdom. Which means that he can switch between worlds at will. I only wonder . . . can he bring people with him?"

Midna was sitting in midair, right over Link's right shoulder. "If he can, we're in loads of trouble. Because the Relic will take the transformed Twili citizens and bring them over here to attack Hyrule. I've got no doubts in my mind that Ganondorf will use them to wage war on Hyrule."

"But the Gerudo are already fighting for the king," Nephenee chimed in, causing both the Twilight imp and the legendary Hero to look at her. She did not waver under her gaze. "He does not have the need for any other army."

The imp looked at Nephenee curiously and Nephenee flinched back from her gaze, crossing her fingers in an odd expression that Link had never seen before. "When you spoke to me last, girl, you mentioned that there was a rebellion among your people."

"My name is Nephenee, imp—"

"So Ganondorf may have a need for a new army," Midna continued, as if Nephenee had never spoken which infuriated her. "An army that does not disobey him the way that the Gerudo have. So he'll want my Twili army, which is obedient and can be easily controlled with the Fused Shadows, which he now possesses."

Nephenee seemed to burn with the interruption of her words, but Colin placed a hand on Nephenee's bare arm and she forcibly calmed herself. Link watched the way that the Gerudo girl acted around her young apprentice. Their intimacy would be good for her fiery temper.

Ren cleared his throat. "Sir, you mentioned that you were on your way to see the Sages, correct?"

Link glanced over at Ren. "You don't have to address me by any formal titles. I'm not even recognized by the clan as a Shadow."

He paused, a look of serene contemplation on his face. "I'll drop the titles," Ren said sharply, "but it doesn't matter to me. You're recognized by the princess and I'm loyal to her. Besides, between you and Daime, I'll take you."

Link wasn't so foolish not to recognize that Ren was giving the olive branch, even if it was only because of his new rank as a Shadow. Link nodded softly, accepting Ren's attempts at peace. Something equivalent to a smile crossed Ren's face.

"I can lead you to the Sages," Ren said. "After all, I'm the one who hid them."

Link only nodded, tucking that bit of information away for later.

Colin and Nephenee watched and stood behind them. As soon as it seemed that they were going to move, Midna giggled and dropped into Link's shadow.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" The words carried the same sort of hollowed resonance that Link knew as telepathic communication.

"Yes. Yes it has."

* * *

Link had never been overly sensitive to other people's feelings. In fact, on more than one occasion, Link had been called extremely dense, usually by Ilia and Uli. That didn't really bother him.

But even he could tell the strangled and forced silence of the tunnel was because of words that were choked before spoken.

Between the five of them, there were connections too tangled to ever be separated.

Link was the mentor to Colin, the guardian of Nephenee, partner of Midna and uncalculated risk of Ren. Most of his relationships were founded on strong bonds, but he couldn't help but glance over at the other Sheikah every once and a while, watching him as he lead the four through the tunnels.

Ren was a strong warrior and the most loyal of the princess's watchdogs. He also seemed willing to fight on the side of Link, but the Hero couldn't shake the feeling that Ren was always watching, always collecting information, waiting until he could come to a suitable conclusion about him.

Link just assumed that, since he was doing the same thing.

Despite his inability with human emotions—sometimes, even his own were a mystery to him—Link had always made friends or enemies quickly, usually on the edge of his blade or the point of his bow. People naturally came to him because of his strength, because he was the legendary Hero. That was how he had met Ralis, Renaldo, Telma, all of the Resistance save Rusl . . . hell, that was how he had met Midna. More recently, it was how he had come into contact with Nephenee, becoming her protector in a foreign land that would be all too happy to kill her.

On the other hand, there were people he met on the edge of sword. His enemies, that always seemed to stay with him longer than his friends . . . The Darknuts, the Stallords, the Bulbin army, Zant, even Ganondorf.

So, this long, dragged-out acquaintance-enemy-friendship that he had with Ren was unusual and awkward to Link. The Hylians tended to flock towards him because of his strength and trust him explicitly because of it. It wasn't bragging or arrogance; it was simply the way that things were. Most of them had ulterior motives and quests that they wanted him to embark on or duels that they wanted him to win.

Link didn't know which lines he could cross, how much of Ren's loyalty was forced by his morals and how much was actual acceptance of Link as a leader. He didn't know how to react to Ren's actions. But he did know that he needed Ren as an ally. With his new place in the Sheikah clan he needed someone else—a right hand who could watch his back.

He had no options other than Ren.

Unfortunately, that would have to wait.

This idea of allies . . . it struck him the wrong way. In all of his adventures through the Twilight War, it had been simply himself and Midna, his guide. But now, he had unwillingly walked into the world of politics and placed himself in the middle of it. He had an Ordon soldier to keep his Hylian roots, a Gerudo warrior to converse with the enemy, his old ally of the Twilight to watch his back . . .

And now he needed a Sheikah clan member to be his right hand man.

Ren paused, coming across a solid wall, the dead end of a tunnel.

"What's this? Did we make a wrong turn?"

"No," Link responded softly to Colin's question. The feeling in his gut pulled him towards the blank wall—the shadows were leading him in the right direction.

"Link's right," Ren said. "There's no such thing as a dead end in the Sheikah Tunnels. They all interconnect indefinitely—or the lead to the surface. But only members of the clan can open the pathways in and out of the earth. Otherwise, you're trapped here forever—or the Sheikah find you."

"It would be better to just stay trapped," Link added.

Ren nodded with an odd expression on his face, as if he wasn't accustomed to Link's brand of friendliness. Link couldn't blame him. Not many people knew how to act around him, especially not since he returned from the Sacred Grove.

Then Ren's lips parted in the first smile that Link had seen from him. Link responded tentatively.

But then Ren turned away and he touched his hand to the earth. The Sheikah symbol glowed red for a moment and suddenly the earth faded, wasting away to reveal a stone staircase, leading up into the faded light.

_It must be night outside, _Link realized.

Link, never one to back down from a challenge, led the way as the five of them ascended towards the surface. They entered into a small clearing—enclosed on all side by high walls, but open to the night sky, where the stars and the moon twinkled down at them softly, obscured by clouds. It was as if they were in the middle of a dormant volcano.

Once Nephenee had been helped out of the Tunnel by Colin—Link ignored the way that she was holding her side after all of the stairs; he had thought that the injury would have been cured by now—the wide circular opening faded into a large stone door, much like the one that led into the Chambers of Judgment. The Sheikah symbol had faded from the glowing blood-red to a nearly unnoticeable faded purple.

Link glanced toward the top of the volcano. The skies were oddly colored. Black, like always, and to the corner of his vision he could see one of Midna's portals—probably the one over Zora's Domain—but there was an odd light to the south. A casual flickering that gave Link a sense of unease.

The clearing was nearly completely empty. A tree grew on the western side, and there was a small pool next to it. A couple of birds fluttered, only to leave out of the top of the cylindrical rock structure. The ground was littered with tall grass and flowers.

It reminded Link of a dig cavern, the ones that gave him nothing but rusty pots that he would sell in the marketplace for a few rupees.

As Link crossed the clearing, Midna suddenly joined his side from the shadows. She was in her half-shadow state, the only clear part of her being her uncovered eye.

Nephenee murmured and did an odd gesture with her hands.

Midna ignored her. "The Sages are coming. But . . . I don't think that they're the ones we know."

Suddenly, Ren pushed Colin and Nephenee close to Link and shoved a black shield over the five of them. Even through the shield, Link could still see and feel the intense light that was on the outside of them. Ren's forehead was dripping with sweat, and between clenched teeth, he forced out, "Help me."

Link responded immediately, placing his hands on the shield. Midna, who also had experience with all types of magic apart from Light, touched the side of his arm as the power flowed through Link, nearly out of his control.

"For a Shadow, you're rather poor at this," Midna said, giggling.

"I'm a bit new at this," Link responded tartly as he tried to control the numbness that was spreading throughout his arms. Sadly, he failed, and it reinforced his hatred of all things magic.

As suddenly as it came, the light died. Ren feel down on one knee and the black cocoon that had surrounded them shattered into jagged blade of shadow that dissipated in the air. Ren steadied his breathing for a few moments, then pushed himself back up. Link rubbed his arms fiercely, trying to rid himself of the horrible feeling of numbness.

Ren glanced over at Link. "Not bad for a first timer."

"I don't think I'm going to have feeling in my arms for a long time."

"No, you probably won't."

"While I hate to destroy developing friendship," Nephenee cut into their conversation, "am I the only one who is wondering where we are?"

Link glanced around them. "It's . . . It's the Temple of Time."

"You're both wrong and right," a voice cut in.

All of them spiraled around to see a green-haired girl dressed in bright green clothes leaning against of the pillars, except for Midna, who was chuckling above them with an entertained expression on her face.

The girl continued in her sweet voice. "We have not physically moved from where you were. However, as we cannot manifest in the corporal plane, consider yourselves in limbo. A sort of magical layer that is over your world."

"It's the same layer that I use to slip in and out of the portals," Midna chimed in helpfully.

Link was silent, watching the girl with a pensive expression. "I've seen you before."

"I doubt that, Hero of Twilight. You haven't been around nearly long enough to know me. After all, it's been centuries since I've walked the world as a mortal."

Link still recognized her. From the floating, faded images that Shade had shown him, in the white mist that had spread across the mindscape.

"But I do know you," Link insisted softly. "You're Saria, the Sage of Forest."

The girl was shocked, but she hid it well. Just the slight widening of her green eyes gave her away. "Well then. Perhaps this won't be so hard after all."

"You underestimate him, Saria," another voice entered, one that Link recognized with a slight hint of fear. Descending from the staircase that led to the Temple dungeon was Impa. She looked exactly as she had when they had fought in the Spell-Woven Pit, but without the giant sword. "I tested him mere hours ago, and he has passed. Quite determined too, seeing as it took less than a day from him to reach us."

"That is hardly a matter of consequence, Impa," added a Goron who moved into the Temple from the left, despite the fact that there is no place for him to have come from. "This is no time to dawdle. We have brought the Hero and his friends here for a reason, I hope that you recall."

"Darunia," Link murmured the rest of his companions, who had mixed expressions of confusion on their faces. Well, Colin and Nephenee did. Midna was laughing to herself and Ren looked emotionless like normal. "The Sage of Fire."

"Now, now. There's no need for us to fight," a Zora woman said as she walked up to Darunia's side, placing a hand on his back. "We did enough of that when we are still alive and kicking."

"Ruto, the Sage of Water," Link introduced, feeling the need to acknowledge their presence to the others.

"Yes, besides, there are dire times ahead of us," an old man said as he took his place next to Impa. "As always, there is a reason that we have brought the Hero before us once more."

"Rauru, the Sage of Light."

"Exactly what I was saying!" the Goron agreed heartily.

"Lighten up, Daru. It won't kill you to relax you know," said a Gerudo woman from behind a pillar. Red hair, more fiery than Nephenee's pooled around her shoulders, held up by a tight ponytail. She wore the traditional Gerudo bells that Link had seen in his flashbacks, probably a memory of how she was in life, an enemy who didn't want to be one.

Nephenee's eyes widened and she reached out a hand to the Gerudo woman, hope a shining beacon in her eyes. Then, her arms shaking, she pulled it back with a choked sob, falling to her knees, her face in her hands.

"Nabooru," Link added softly, "The Sage of Spirit."

* * *

Soft bells jingled as Nabooru reached down to help Nephenee to her feet. Her eyes were dry, but broken into shattered pieces of glass as Nephenee removed her tanned hands from her face.

Nephenee raised her eyes slowly to Nabooru's and spoke a soft line in Gerudo to the Sage.

Nabooru crouched down, her baggy purple pants nearly touching the floor, her feet bare. Her long red ponytail dragged on the ground. "I have heard of your loss, my young sister. I also lost my Oath-Sister in the war that spread across the nations in my time. However, I can speak honestly when I say that your sister will persevere until you meet her again."

The shattered glass of Nephenee's eyes sparked once more. "You have heard of my Nabooru? Is she alright?" Nephenee crawled forward slightly eyes wide with suppressed hope. "Please, you must tell me about my sister. Is she well?"

"My reincarnation is struggling to overcome demons, but she is as well as she can be, with the king holding such sway over my people," the Sage Nabooru said quietly. "You will meet her again soon."

Nephenee was silent and solemn, softly pulling herself to her feet and trying to regain what dignity she had as she brushed off her clothes. Colin touched her shoulder, and she leaned against his chest. Not for the first time, Link wondered what was going on between the two of them, but there were far more pressing concerns than a budding romance.

Nabooru smiled when she followed Link's eyes. "It's good to see one of the Gerudo walking beside the Hero. Even in my time, we never had that honor. Always on different sides, always fighting against. I guess that that was the price we had to pay. We're erased from the history books. It was the last gift that the Zelda in my time could give to us. We weren't remembered, but at least we weren't hated. For the centuries after we disappeared from Hyrule, we had peace."

"And now that peace has shattered," Rauru broke in as he descended down the staircase. As he spoke, Nabooru pulled back from Nephenee and took her place in the semi-circle of Sages that had formed in front of Link. "Which is why we are here."

"But I don't understand," Link said. "How are you here? I remember you from Sha—from the Hero of Time's memories. How can you be here, in my timeline?"

"Unfortunately, it's no longer _just_ your timeline," Darunia said. "Didn't you wonder how the Hero of Time came back in such a corporal form? How Dark Link had returned? Why the Ganondorf that you had fought didn't recognize you and taunted you about your lack of strength?"

"_You disappoint me. I once thought Heroes to be powerful." _

"_HERO OF TIME!" _

"_To the denizens of your time, I'm simply known as the Old Hero, or the Hero of Legend. However, personally, I share your name. The name of the Hero: Link."_

"_An old enemy. An eternal rival. A demon thief, according to this timeline." _

"It's an unfortunate consequence of actions that could not be prevented," Ruto mused as she shook her head. "But our two timelines have converged. They're overlapping. That's why so many of the ghosts of the past have come back."

"But we are considerably weaker than our opponents," Rauru said. "Unlike Ganondorf and Dark Link, we have incarnations in this timeline. It's the reason why the Hero of Time cannot help you in this fight. If we have already been reborn, we cannot intrude on where our souls already are."

"All of you?" Colin spoke up for the first time. "All of you have been reborn in this timeline?"

"Actually, no," Nabooru responded. "I have, obviously, and so were Ruto and Darunia. Ruto was Queen Rutela. Darunia is currently Darbus."

"I was up for reincarnation because when I left this world, my clan was in shambles and we were losing the war. Although I would have none of my memories or my powers, I felt like I could at least attempt to lead the Zora on the right path."

"I was reincarnated for nearly the same reason," Darunia added. "Since Nabooru, Ruto and I were leaders of our clans during a time of warfare—which neither Ruto nor I survived—it was practically our obligation to come back to it."

"Impa, Rauru and Saria can't reincarnate at all, so their hold on this world is weak, since they should have passed on a long time ago," Nabooru continued. "Saria's people no longer exist, and her soul can't enter into another race since the Koriko were eternally children. Impa's spirit must remain within the Spell-Woven Pit. Rauru is an Ancient Sage and was never one of us mortals, so I'm not even sure if he can."

"I dislike your tone, Nabooru—"

"Anyway," Nabooru cut over Rauru's words smoothly, "the fact we have been reincarnated has little to do with the actual reason that we're here at all. Right now we're using the bodies of the current six Sages in order to speak with you, but I'm not sure how long they will last."

"Bodies?" Ren spoke up curiously. "Is there something wrong with the Sages?"

Saria sighed. "Like us, they have faded. The Sages are magical beings, although not nearly as powerful as they once were. Because there are two generations cohabiting this timeline, it will not be long until the Sages disappear from this world."

"They have already been weakened by the actions of Zant and Ganondorf during the Twilight War," Rauru added. "They will simply not survive this meeting. Their last actions were to allow them to explain what they could not. We will honor their sacrifice."

There was a silence. Saria placed her hands over her heart and took a deep breath. Nabooru placed a hand on her green-clad shoulders.

"I've told you that the timelines are converging, but I haven't told you why," Saria raised a hand. Above her, on the high ceiling of the Temple of Time, a dark cloud grew, which shifted shapes into a lifeless form, covered by shadows and chained with thick black manacles.

"It is the king," Nephenee murmured.

"Yep. Ganondorf, our Ganondorf"—Nabooru gestured towards the other Sages—"was locked away after the whole time paradox fiasco. Since, well, his body was immortal, the other Sages and I basically shoved his soul out of his body, placing the physical shell inside the Twilight Realm, far from the civilization of the Interlopers."

"I've never heard of this," Midna said, her brow scrunched. "The Relic is a common folk tale told to children in order to scare them. But the fact that Ganondorf's body was imprisoned in the Twilight Realm—that legend has never reached my ears."

"It's because, technically, in the Twilight, it never happened," Darunia said sharply. "After Zelda placed the immortal body of Ganondorf in the Twilight Realm, too far out for any brave soul to find it alive, Link played the Ocarina of Time, returning Hyrule to the way that it had been before Ganondorf had invaded. Because of this, time shifted between the Twilight and the Light. Your realm is connected to ours, so naturally, your world skipped back seven years as well. But Ganondorf, because he was not a natural part of the Twilight, did not move."

"This created a small pocket in the Twilight," Saria took her place in the story. "A pocket that was untouched by time. No one could find it. Because to them, this pocket did not exist. Only the people who had created that space in the first place—us—would ever be able to find it again."

"What does this have to do with Ganondorf?" Ren asked sharply.

"Well, that's where things get complicated," Ruto said with a sad smile. "You see, when your Link, the Hero of Twilight, I mean, defeated the current Ganondorf, that was the first time that the Triforce of Power had been released in over a thousand years."

"Since we had killed the original Ganondorf's soul, he had the ability to reincarnate along with the Hero and the Princess of Destiny," Rauru explained. "Now, the Triforce of Power is a dangerous thing in the hands of someone who can't handle it. Like the other two pieces, it is not evil or good by itself, merely by the person who wields it. When you defeated Ganondorf with the veil between Twilight and Light so thin—after all, the Mirror had been reformed and the complete form of the Fused Shadows had just been invoked—the Triforce of Power left Ganondorf's body and headed towards the familiar presence of his host."

"Wait, the Triforce can sense Ganondorf?" Link asked.

"Not quite. The Triforce goes with whoever claims it. Like I have said, on its own the Triforce is neither good nor evil, simply a tool that is used by both the Goddesses and man. When Demon Thief Ganondorf's soul and body were killed, the Triforce detached itself, ready to attempt the reincarnation cycle again. However, with the border between the two worlds so thin, the Triforce found a much quicker host."

"My Ganondorf," another voice added into the conversation. Link turned slowly. He knew that voice well, a mirror image to his own.

"I'm seeing double," Colin murmured as Shade moved off of the pillar that he was leaning against.

Link glanced at the green clad hero. "Are you following me?"

Shade gave a small half-smile. "Not really. I felt that a reunion was going on and felt like it would be rude of me not to show up. Even if I didn't merit an invitation."

Rauru bowed deeply to Shade as the green-clad hero made his way over to the Sages. "Hero of Time. You have been well?"

"I've been dead, if that's what you're asking."

"Good, then," Rauru said without missing a beat.

Shade only gave a small smile. He was much more lax that the rest of the Sages. He stood next to Saria, who Link supposed was neutral ground. After all, Link wasn't sure how often the seven of them had been in contact as they floated in and out of the afterlife. Concerning Link's knowledge, the last time that Shade had seen any of them, had been when he watched Ruto and Darunia die and banished Nabooru.

Link, who was still shrouded in the Sheikah bodysuit and cape that he had stolen from the assassins, felt more like he was looking at an alternate reality than a mirror image. After all, Link thought, he no longer had the unblemished face that Shade boasted. He had pledged allegiance elsewhere.

"Are you the Hero that we speak of to the young ones?" Nephenee asked as she looked at Shade with her head tilted. Her voice was still a little shaky, but it was strong.

Shade looked her up and down. "You are one of the sisters, aren't you? I wasn't aware that my tales had been told to the Gerudo." Shade glanced over at Nabooru.

The Sage of Spirit rubbed the back of her neck. "Guilty."

"Anyway," Shade added, "that's not the reason that I'm here, and more importantly, it's not the reason that you're here. I've heard enough of the conversation to understand what's going on. The Ganondorf you're facing isn't the Ganondorf from your timeline. It's the Ganondorf from mine."

"The original King of the Gerudo?" Nephenee asked. "The one whom we speak of in fear?"

"Yes. When the Triforce was returned to him," Rauru cut in, "it seems that his memories, and more importantly, his power, was returned to him as well. He broke the chains that had once held him and made his way through the cracks between the worlds so that he could travel back to Hyrule."

"We don't know where he ended up," Saria said, "but he landed outside of Hyrule. Our own presences were awoken once more—but we were much weaker and it took years for us to gather our power. We know that he landed close to where the Gerudo were stationed. In that time, he came to understand the new modern way of life and the legends of a Hero of Twilight who had just recently saved Hyrule. From there, he planned power and control once more."

"As we grow weaker, he grows stronger," Darunia said. "It won't be long—less than an hour—before we fade away entirely. Ganondorf wants Hyrule and the two pieces of the Triforce that have eluded him for centuries. But things are different this time. Ganondorf has the Fused Shadows now. I'm not sure what powers and abilities they grant him. This will be a much larger fight than you ever could have imagined."

Link took a deep breath. "I will face this head on as a Hero." He looked directly at Impa as he said it.

The Sage of Shadow gave a small smile and a determined nod of her head. "Be prepared. Like the Gerudo, the Hero's blood is not as strong as it was in the old days. Link, you are weaker than the Hero of Time. And now Ganondorf is far stronger than the Hero of Time ever was. You will need all your strength—and you will need allies." Impa glanced towards Ren. "You are not a Blooded member of the Sheikah."

Ren knelt as soon as Impa addressed him. "No, sir, I am not. The clan has deemed me too young to join the ranks of the Blooded."

Impa hummed pensively. "That seems wrong. You are far stronger than some of the others who have been granted that blessing. But that doesn't matter. I am trusting you to do what I cannot. Guard your Shadow as he should be guarded. All Shadows need an advisor. For Link, it will be you."

" . . . Me?" There was no inflection to Ren's tone.

Impa gave a sly smile and nodded, a triumphant look in her eyes.

Midna curled a small hand on Link's black-clad shoulder and whispered in his ear. "Be grateful. That Sage just won you an ally."

Link didn't respond, but he knew that Midna could sense his agreement as she leaned away from him.

Ren nodded. "I will do as you ask, sir."

Ruto suddenly fell to her knees, clutching her heart. In an instant, Shade was at her side, wrapping his hands around her small body. Link knelt forward as well.

Ruto steadied her breathing as she glanced at her webbed, blue hands, which were slowly disappearing. She immediately glanced at Nabooru. "Hurry! We don't have much time. The Sages' bodies are disappearing in the corporeal world. Soon we won't have an anchor to keep us here!"

"Why Ruto?" Colin asked softly as he approached, crouching down next to his mentor.

Nabooru approached. "Because Ruto was the first of the mortal Sages to die. Her hold on the world is the weakest. Now forgive me if I go fast, but none of us have time anymore.

"Link, here's the gist: This Ganondorf ain't your Ganondorf, but you're going to have to defeat him like he was and soon. We're fading and he's growing stronger. Soon he will have no need for my people anymore and will find a new army."

"My army," Midna said sadly.

"Exactly. A little reminder of the Twilight War won't be good for Hyrule's moral and they'll go down faster than a hunted Pehat in the desert. This war will essentially go down the drain and that can't happen. Seven years that only I remember was enough time under Ganondorf's rule. So, short version: You need to unite the fragmented units of Hyrule under one banner to fight off this otherworldly army that's coming and soon."

Link clenched his jaw but nodded.

"Got it? Good. We're counting on you."

"We're always counting on him," Impa said, cutting in. She looked over at Ren. "I've always protected my clan, and that means that I have message for you. I've always been connected closer to Hyrule than the other Sages because of my constant vigil over the Spell-Woven Pit. You'll understand what I mean: The most protected has been attacked. The object of your thought has drifted into the Tunnels and is being followed. That's all I can give you."

Ren looked like he had been hit in the face with a sledge hammer.

Ruto looked up at Shade for a moment and smiled sadly—her entire body was transparent now. All of the Sages were silent as they watched her, barely recognizing their own faded forms. "Link . . ." Ruto said, and the Hero of Twilight knew that it wasn't addressed to him. " . . . Did you blame yourself after my death?"

"A little," Shade admitted, watching the Sage of Water carefully.

Nabooru moved to kneel next to Ruto carefully. Her eyes closed. "Ruto . . . as Sages, we were never close. But . . . I have to ask. Did . . . did you hate me when you died?"

Ruto smiled softly. "No more than I did when we were arguing in the Temple of Light."

The silence that spread throughout the Temple of Time was deafening. No one of Link's party spoke as they watched the old Sages fade away, witnessing the last moments that the old friends had together.

It was Nabooru who broke the silence.

It was barely a whisper, a strangled cry that was nearly inaudible.

"When we had crossed blades . . . I wish that it could have ended differently."

Ruto closed her eyes and bit down on her transparent lip, tears welling down the side of her face. "Me too." She placed a hand across her eyes as she faded away, wishing that her last memory wasn't one blurred with tears.

* * *

One by one, the Sages faded. Ruto was the first, Rauru was the last. Shade stayed until the end and watched as the Temple of Time crumbled and faded into light, slowly revealing the hollowed cavern that they had once been in. But when the Temple of Time disappeared, Shade faded along with it.

Before he went, he looked back at Link.

"I'll be watching. You know to call me."

Link nodded once.

The five of them were all still standing, watching as the background faded away into the trees and grass of the clearing, the small pool sparkling, the stars pinpricks of light in the distance. That haunted light still came from the south, but Link paid it little mind as whirls of information made its way through his mind.

Ren was the first one of them to move. "I have to go."

"What is wrong?" Nephenee said with a slight air of detachment.

"Impa gave me a warning. The first strike has already been made. Castle Town has fallen."

Colin's eyes widened and Nephenee looked shocked. Link merely closed his eyes and shook his head, remembering the message from Impa.

"Then I assume that the 'object of your thoughts' would be the princess," Link mused. "She fled into the Tunnels when her castle was attacked."

Ren nodded. "It's the general safety procedure for things like this. We can't allow the princess to be stolen. But that's another problem in and of itself. The princess cannot find her way through the Tunnels. If she went without an escort—which she probably did, otherwise she'd be found by now—she is probably horribly lost."

"The princess is a Sheikah," Link refuted. "Shade told me that. I've only had my shadow magic for hours and I can already find my way through the Tunnels. The princess is adept at magic. She should have no problem."

Midna floated between the two of them. "I understand the problem. It's fundamental. Remember, Link, how I couldn't be around whenever the Light Spirits were conjured? That's the way that it is between the two magic. Zelda is a practitioner of Light. If she has any powers of shadow from her Sheikah moonlighting, they must come to her with a price, which is most likely physical harm."

Colin glanced over at Ren. "What kind of physical harm?"

Ren sighed. "The last time that Zelda tried using shadow magic she was fifteen, and she nearly lost her left arm at the shoulder."

There was a moment of pause. Ren then turned on his heel and prepared to descend down into the Tunnels once more. Link caught his arm.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I have to find the princess. If she's alone, that means that Kukiel is most likely dead or captured. Someone has to guide her through the Tunnels." Ren's voice held a hint of a snarl, the first inflection that Link had heard from the man apart from indifference since they had come together. "Please, I have to leave."

Link released his arm. "Bring the princess to the Cavern. I'll lead Nephenee, Colin and Midna back there. That'll be our meeting point. If you're not there by nightfall tomorrow, I'll head out after you."

Ren's brow furrowed. "Why would you do that?"

"You're my advisor, right? Can't have you dying the second day on the job."

Ren hid a smile. "Of course."

"I would never leave a comrade to die."

The Sheikah glanced up at the odd light—Link now knew that it was probably the fire-charred remains of Castle Town. "The princess liked to say that when she was young. She learned quickly that not everyone can be saved, even if they deserved to be."

"Causalities are the way of war," Nephenee said. "If no one had died, it would have never been recorded."

Ren glanced back at the symbol-covered door, placing at hand on the seal. The rock parted, leading down into the depths that they had just left.

"I'll go ahead." Ren paused. "I'll see you soon."

Link gave a sharp nod. "Right."

Ren sprinted ahead into the Tunnels, and soon he was gone down the stairs, the shadows welcoming him back as if he was a conquering hero.

Link glanced back at his three other companions. Midna, understanding his look, slipped back into his shadow, giggling as she did so. "Let's get back to the Cavern. I have a feeling that Daime won't wait for me. We don't have much time."

"Never do," Colin commented.

The two of them followed Link diligently as they disappeared down the marbled stairs into the Tunnels once more.

"Din-forsaken Tunnels," Nephenee murmured as they began to descend into the darkness once more. "Can someone explain to me what is so wrong with roads?"


End file.
